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Updated Jun 5, 2013 at 10:40 PM EDT
Buffalo, NY (WKBW) - It was a story you first saw here on Eyewitness News. There are new developments in the case of a man who says police raided the wrong apartment and killed his dog.
Buffalo Police say there is an internal investigation underway. If the officers entered the wrong address, there will be ramifications.
Adam Arroyo contacted Eyewitness News on Tuesday. He says that Buffalo Police raided his apartment Monday evening, shooting and killing his beloved pit bull, Cindy.
However, Arroyo says the search warrant left behind is for the “upper” apartment. He lives in the upper rear apartment -- on the other side of the house.
Marco Torres, who lives two homes down from Arroyo, says he told police officers that they had the wrong apartment.
As police broke down the door at 304 Breckenridge Street, raiding Arroyo's apartment, Torres says, "I kept telling them over and over that it was the wrong house -- but they weren't listening."
Marco Torres watched the whole thing from outside, and says he warned officers that they may have broken into the wrong apartment.
"When I heard it, it wasn't just one gunshot. It was multiple gunshots," Torres says.
Arroyo, who was at work at the time, showed Eyewitness News the damage and blood left behind.
Even without seeing the search warrant, Torres says he knew it could not be Arroyo.
"He works everyday, he's the coolest kid you can ever meet. He don't do none of that," Torres says, referring to the drugs listed on the search warrant.
Arroyo says he understands police have a job to do. However, he is still upset.
Arroyo is a military veteran, and says he served for 16 months in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He recently took his Corrections Officer test.
"I mean, I'm doing the right thing," Arroyo says. "I'm doing good. They had no reason to come to my house and kill -- and murder my dog."
The military veteran says everyday in his apartment; he walks by the bloodstains and bullet holes from the raid that killed Cindy.
Torres says Cindy was "the sweetest dog you'll ever meet -- everybody knows that around the block."
"I want (Buffalo police) to change the policies,” says Arroyo. “If they know a dog is in the residence, to have animal control out there, or have a taser -- why go and use deadly force? That was my family member."
Arroyo says he also wants Buffalo police to pay for the damage done to his apartment during the raid.
Derenda says, "in the case of a dog being in the apartment, if he was attacking the officer and he was self-preservation -- stopping the dog from attacking would be justified." However, the department is looking into their policy on how to handle dogs when a search warrant is executed.
The police commissioner has not spoken with the officers involved. However, Derenda says, "There are proper procedures in place. We should not get the wrong apartment. We are looking into what took place and we will investigate."
Police would not comment on any potential policy changes, because the case is under investigation.
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Evidently a chained dog in your apartment while you're at work is still up for being killed. And they just passed a law making it a felony to annoy a cop
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He plans now to press charges against the City of Buffalo.
Buffalo Police spokesperson Michael DeGeorge says Internal Affairs has launched an investigation into the case, but that police believe they had the proper address.
He also says detectives "don't believe the dog was chained or leashed" when they executed the raid. Adding that if any wrong doing is found in the investigation that officers will face consequences.
DeGeorge could not comment on whether officers found any drugs inside the apartment.Leave a comment:
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You're expected to chain your dog in your own apartment in New York? That's fucking ridiculous.Leave a comment:
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Veteran says cops killed his dog during raid on wrong apartment
Adam Arroyo, an Iraq War veteran, claims that police raided the wrong apartment on the hunt for a drug dealer and killed his dog on Monday evening. Media began to publish stories on Wednesday as Arroyo, who had lived in the same apartment for three years, began to tell his story. Arroyo returned home from work on Monday evening to find his New York apartment door broken open, the apartment torn apart, and several bullet holes in his kitchen wall, and his his pit bull mix Cindy had been murdered.
Arroyo found out that police had a search warrant for 304 Breckenridge, upper apartment. The suspect in the warrant was described as a black male who was wanted on suspicion of dealing crack. Arroyo is a Hispanic male who lives at 304 Breckenridge, upper-rear apartment, the apartment next door. He has a separate entrance to his home which is clearly marked on his mail box. He now had to pay to have his dog, Cindy, cremated. He also had to miss work and repair his door at his own cost.
According to Buffalo Police spokesperson, Michael DeGeorge, stated that internal affairs launched an investigation, but they believe that the police had proper reason to kill Cindy. DeGeorge stated detectives "don't believe the dog was chained or leashed" when the raided the wrong apartment. Arroyo tells a different story.
"She's over here, chained up, and look at all these bullet holes man. Look at the blood right here," Arroyo stated while he showed where Cindy had been shot. "She was tied up in the kitchen like I tie her up every single day, and they shot her for no reason. For police to wrongfully come into my house and murder my dog... It wasn't that they felt threatened. No. They murdered my dog," Arroyo said, beginning to get upset. "That was my dog, man. That was my dog. They didn't have to do that, you know. They didn't have to do that."
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