Dixmoor Police Officer Says He Fatally Shot An Unleashed Dog, Witnesses Tell Another Story

DIXMOOR, Ill. (CBS)-- A Dixmoor police officer killed a family's dog because it was loose.

The officer claimed it charged him, but CBS 2's Tara Molina reported witnesses tell another story.

CBS 2 found it's not the first time. The officer is accused of killing four dogs.

All dogs, the officer claimed, were a risk because they were not on a leash.

Cocoa called Brandi Quinn part of her family.

"My dog was like my daughter," Quinn said. "A daughter to me."

Other family members were there when a Dixmoor Police Officer shot and killed Cocoa in July.

"My son was at home. He heard the first shot. And when he heard the first shot he came outside and that's when he saw her [the dog] in the street," Quinn said.

The police officer who pulled the trigger, Marquise Day.

CBS 2 requested all of the shooting incidents involving dogs in Dixmoor in the past year. They all involve Officer Day, who shot and killed at least three other pit bulls since the end of May.

In a report dated May 23, the officer said he was patrolling at 146th Street and Hoyne Avenue when he found two pit bulls running loose with no dog tags and trying to get into a house. In the report, the officer claimed got out and tried to make contact with the homeowners when the dogs became aggressive – barking and growling they came closer – and the officer claimed he had to open fire.

In a report dated June 17, the officer claimed a gray pit bull was loose and chasing some pedestrians and their own dog at 145th Street and Hoyne Avenue. The pedestrians were in fear of their lives as the pit bull jumped on the pedestrians and tried to attack their dog.

The officer claimed he got out of his squad car and tried to distract the dog, but the dog charged at him and he opened fire.

In a report dated July 26, the officer reported being sent to 36 Circle Dr. for a report of a loose dog. The woman who called was scared to come outside after being mauled by a pit bull on a separate occasion, the report said. The report claimed that as the officer walked toward a driveway to talk to the woman who called, a female pit bull charged at him and he had to fire his weapon.

Afterward, a man came up from another house on Circle Drive and said he owned the dog. He began cursing at the officer – saying the dog was in heat and had been let out to take a shower, the report said. This was the incident that involved Cocoa.

CBS 2 called Officer Day by phone, but he said to call the chief.

In his incident reports, all dogs are described as "unleashed" and "aggressive." The same way he described Cocoa, claiming she charged him, forcing him to shoot.

Quinn claims officer Day was defensive when she followed-up with him at the police department.

"I said what is your policy of loose dogs? I would like a copy of that under the Freedom of Information Act. 'Well you need an attorney for that.' I said I do not need an attorney for your policy on-loose dogs," Quinn said.

She never got the policy. Just a citation for a loose dog.

CBS 2 never got a copy of that policy either, despite the request for the public documents. But, did find their last published code of ordinances online.

They cite a section of Illinois' Animal Control Act.

Neither mention shooting loose dogs deemed dangerous by the responding officer.

CBS 2 followed up with the Village of Dixmoor's Clerk and Police Chief on this and they still haven't clarified exactly what their policy is and provided no information when I showed up here to follow-up on call and email requests.