First Posted: 3/17/2015
LIMA — A drug raid in Lima left a family’s dog dead in the process.
The pit bull, Lulu, was shot at the family’s home at 945 Greenlawn Ave. in Lima after the Allen County Sheriff’s SWAT team conducted a “no-knock” raid on the home.
After the raid, dog owner and resident of the home, Susan Smith, said, “I don’t even know where to start to pick up my life.”
James Everett, chief deputy with the Sheriff’s Office, said details about what drugs were found inside the home were still pending in the investigation.
“All they got was a pound of weed,” Smith said.
Support for LuLu has been shared over the Facebook group “Justice for Lulu,” which has more than 2,000 followers. Lulu was acting non-aggressively toward officers and would “never hurt a fly,” Smith said.
Two other dogs were present inside the home when officers arrived, she said.
While SWAT team members were inside, Smith said officers were yelling at her husband to cage Lulu. After the husband was able to cage her, Smith said an officer kicked the cage and Lulu escaped.
Lulu then ran into Smith’s bedroom where Lulu was shot five times by an officer, she said. Lulu then ran outside into a neighbor’s yard where she was shot another three times by an officer, she said. Meanwhile, her husband was being beaten by officers.
Everett said reports state the dog was shot three times during the raid by a SWAT team member. Everett said he doesn’t know if the dog was shot outside and that no reports of excessive force against Smith’s husband have been filed with the ACSO.
When asked if firing the gun was the right thing to do, Everett said, “There’s nothing to indicate otherwise, so yeah. I think the answer would be ‘yes.’”
No complaint has been filed against the ACSO regarding the dog either, Everett said. Every time a weapon has been discharged, “We look into what happened, and at this point, there’s nothing to indicate that we need to do any further investigations,” he said.
“In order for an officer to shoot a dog, there’s a risk to that officer, other officers, from that dog, or they don’t shoot the dog. We do a lot of search warrants where dogs aren’t shot,” Everett said. “Just because there’s a dog in there, doesn’t mean they’re going to shoot the dog.
“Like I said, everything we’ve seen so far … there’s no reason to investigate anything any further,” Everett said.
Susan R. Smith has been charged with keeping a disorderly house and her husband, James D. Smith, has been charged with keeping a disorderly house, resisting arrest and obstructing official business. Both pleaded not guilty.
