As Well As Looking For A Few Good Men, It Seems We Also Need To Hire Some Who Can Read

Florida man sues city after police shoot, kill dog by mistake

SANFORD - "A man has filed suit against the city of Winter Springs, accusing two of its police officers of mistaking his home for someone else's, hauling him outdoors without clothes and shooting dead his Rottweiler.

The suit, filed Thursday, seeks unspecified damages.

William A. Riggin alleges he was in the shower when officers "stormed" into his home May 14, 2006. They thought they were three houses down, responding a home where an alarm had sounded.

Police said the officers walked in through an unlocked sliding glass door, and when the 130-pound dog, a 3-year-old named Dirk, lunged at one of the officers, he shot it.

The dog died about a half hour later. Police did not allow Riggin to tend to him until it was too late, according to the suit.

It alleges the police department was negligent and that Riggin has suffered humiliation, emotional pain and the loss of his pet.

At the time, police said part of the problem was that Riggin lived in a neighborhood where some addresses were unmarked or poorly marked.

Police spokesman Capt. Kevin Brunelle today said, "It was an incident we wish didn't happen."

But it DID happen, Captain Brunelle, and in the real world this means someone must be held accountable. Wishing upon a star is a sweet gesture, especially in the state that is home to Disneyworld, but it might be past time to get serious and stop defending the idiots who go breaking into people's homes and using firearms to wreck havoc with the occupants.