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Body camera footage raises more questions after San Juan police officer kills dog

1 year 4 months 3 weeks ago Saturday, December 03 2022 Dec 3, 2022 December 03, 2022 3:25 PM December 03, 2022 in News - Local

A San Juan dog owner said she wants the local cop who she says shot and killed her Great Dane in September to be held accountable.

Itati Rincón said she tears up thinking about the body cam footage that captures the moments after her dog, Llady, was shot.

"Looking at her slowly passing away as she wags her tail… it's hard to watch the footage over and then like remember,” Rincón said.

According to a police report, the officer who shot Lady responded to a call about aggressive dogs that were loose in the neighborhood. The dogs walked “aggressively” toward the officer who tried to use a taser that was “unsuccessful,” the report stated.

That's when the officer pulled out his gun and fired off two shots – one of which hit Lady.

Rincón said she feels the officer mishandled the situation.

“They got out, but I mean that doesn't warrant the officer shooting the dog,” Rincón said. “I want him to be held accountable for the things he didn't do and for what he did do.”

After filing six public information requests with the city, Rincón was able to get body cam footage from the officer. The footage, however, only showed the moments after Lady was shot. Everything to prior from that is missing. 

The footage also shows the officer threatening to shoot the other dogs at the scene.

“You're an officer, you're supposed to do your best to deescalate a situation,” Rincón said. “You were called onto the scene to deescalate, and if anything you made things worse."

Channel 5 News reached out to San Juan City Manager Benjamin Arjona, who said the city hopes to provide answers for Rincón’s concerns.

Arjona also said he wants to know what happened to the missing bodycam footage.

“I want to know actually why the video was faulty, was it something that has to do with equipment,” Arjona asked. “What is the issue with that. And that's why I asked for a thorough investigation on that."

Arjona and the city police department have not commented on the status of the officer in question.

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