Lawsuit claims Detroit police officer killed ‘restrained, defenseless’ dog in search

Detroit — A Detroit woman and her two adult sons are suing the city of Detroit and a group of Detroit police officers, claiming one of them killed the family’s dog for no reason before the residents were taken into custody without probable cause.

The incident happened Jan. 2, 2023, when Officer Austin Rymarz and five other “John Doe” officers executed a search warrant at a house on Roosevelt Street on Detroit’s west side, according to the 15-page lawsuit that was filed March 3 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

Attorney Cyril C. Hall told The Detroit News the officers handcuffed his clients, Lashaye Taylor and her adult sons Desjuan Taylor and Saron Blanding, after falsely claiming there was a warrant for their arrest.

Lashaye Taylor was held in a squad car “for several hours,” while Desjuan Taylor and Blanding were held in the Detroit Detention Center for four days before being released without charges, Hall said.

“There was never any warrant,” Hall said. “None of them have been charged with any crimes related to those unlawful arrests.”

While carrying out the search warrant, the lawsuit accused Rymarz of fatally shooting Lashaye Taylor’s dog while it “was restrained, defenseless, and posed no immediate danger.”

Detroit police spokesman Vic Pratt said the department couldn’t discuss the specific details of the incident, citing the ongoing lawsuit.

“However, the DPD can confirm that incidents involving high-risk search warrants are extremely dangerous and require officers to make split-second judgment calls regarding potential threats,” Pratt said in a statement. “Unfortunately, aggressive animals are sometimes posted near doors to alert the occupants that police have arrived and to prevent officers from entering the location. Pursuant to DPD policy, physical force against any animal will be used only to prevent harm or injury to a person. This matter will be referred to the City Law Department for proper action.” 

According to the lawsuit, the dog was chained to a fence in Lashaye Taylor’s yard during the raid, and “posed no threat to the officers. The dog could not have reached or attacked officers due to the chain’s length. Police body camera footage and trial testimony confirm that the dog remained in its position and did not advance toward any officers.

“Lashaye Taylor and her son Terrance Blanding told (the) officers that they could remove dog in front,” the lawsuit said. “Shortly thereafter, (Lashaye Taylor) heard flashbang and three shots from (a) firearm causing (her) to scream.”

The lawsuit, which does not specify the amount of damages sought, alleges the officers violated the plaintiffs’ Fourth Amendment rights, and claims the city failed to properly train and supervise the officers.

Hall told The News he received body-worn camera footage and transcripts from Rymarz’s trial board, during which he admitted under cross-examination, “I could see that (the dog) was attached to something,” and that “he did not know how far the chain reached.”

“Despite Defendant Rymarz’s observation, he fired three shots, killing the dog,” the lawsuit said. “The dog was restrained, defenseless, and posed no immediate danger. Officer Rymarz later falsely claimed the dog was aggressive and advancing, despite video evidence contradicting this assertion. He testified, ‘The dog was in the same spot before and after the shooting.’”

The lawsuit accused the officers of violating the Detroit Police Department’s Dangerous Animal Policy, which states that “an officer shall not discharge a firearm at a dog or other animal, except to protect a member or person from imminent physical injury and there is no opportunity to retreat or other reasonable means to eliminate the threat.”

The policy further requires that “before using deadly force, every attempt will be made to use other reasonable means to contain the threat of a dangerous animal.”

The lawsuit also accused the officers of removing the dog’s remains without the owner’s consent, and failing to follow the department’s reporting requirements for the destruction of an animal.

The lawsuit is the latest to accuse Detroit police officers of unnecessarily killing dogs. In 2023, a woman claimed in a federal lawsuit that a Detroit police officer unlawfully entered her backyard and fatally shot her dog. A 2019 lawsuit claims officers shot a woman’s two dogs without cause, killing one of them.

The city in 2015 agreed to settle a $100,000 lawsuit with a man after police shot his dog while it was chained to a fence.

ghunter@detroitnews.com

(313) 222-2134

@GeorgeHunter_DN