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Deputy shoots dog terrorizing neighborhood

Residents say the dog was vicious. It has not been found since the shooting Wednesday morning.

By JAMAL THALJI
Published December 16, 2005

ZEPHYRHILLS - It was aggressive and vicious. They were terrified.

That's how neighbors described the pit bullterrier stalking Fir Avenue. Susan Bedell said it chased her, her daughter and her grandchild the night before. Wednesday morning, Bedell said, her daughter had to run to her vehicle, the barking dog right behind her.

That evening they again called authorities for help with the animal, and this time it chased the wrong human: a Pasco sheriff's deputy armed with a .40-caliber Glock.

From a fence opening, the dog charged at Deputy Allen Wilkett. It was just 5 or 6 feet from the rookie when he drew his semiautomatic pistol.

He fired once. The dog was hit and fled.

"There are violent animals out there," said sheriff's spokesman Doug Tobin, "and (deputies) have to protect themselves or protect the public from them."

The Sheriff's Office didn't know the fate of the dog Thursday, which was shot around 6 p.m. Wilkett, on the job just a month, and his field training officer, Deputy Michael Jones, wrote in their reports that they found blood around the scene and a spent shell casing. But they did not find the animal or the bullet.

Tobin referred inquiries about the dog's fate to Pasco County Animal Services, which was called to the scene but did not find the animal Wednesday night.

An employee there told the St. Petersburg Times on Thursday the agency could not comment on any case until manager Denise Hilton returns to the office Monday.

Little is known about the dog. Authorities did not release its description and could not say whether the pit bullterrier was a stray, belonged to anyone in the neighborhood or had been involved in any other incidents.

The deputies said they didn't see the opening in the fence the dog charged through until it was running at Wilkett. The owner of that property said he saw the dog rummaging through his trash days before, during which it "barked aggressively" at him.

The dog "appeared to be in attack mode," Tobin said, and it appears Wilkett followed Sheriff's Office policy in drawing and firing his sidearm. A "use of force" report will be filed, Tobin said.

It's the same report filed any time a weapon is discharged. There won't be an internal affairs investigation, as there would be if a deputy fired at a person, unless a supervisor recommends it.

[Last modified December 16, 2005, 00:54:19]