Kiya, Zorich’s 4-year-old pit bull
This may have been an attempt by the landlord to pressure the family into leaving the home as online court records suggest that Zorich and relatives have had various landlord actions and complaints filed against them for the past 10 years.
“This is an example of police overreaching and using excessive force to get a family out of their house,” stated the family’s attorney, Kenneth Chackes.
The story as it reads in the lawsuit:
On April 25, 2014, St. Louis County Police officers came to her house. Her son cussed at them. They inspected the home’s exterior and placed a “Problem Properties” sticker on the front window.
Zorich called back and spoke to a different officer. This one sounded angry that he’d been cussed at by her son three days earlier. Zorich tried to set up an inspection for a time when her husband would be home. The officer told her that was fine, but that the investigation would continue in the meantime.On April 28, Zorich called the police to follow up on the matter.
An officer told her they were investigating the home for failing to have natural gas or electric service, as required by county ordinance. She admitted that the gas had been shut off, but said the claim about electricity was “bullshit.” The officer hung up on her.
The next day, around 12:41 p.m., Zorich was at home with several family members and her pit bull, Kiya, when a St. Louis County Police Tactical Response Unit burst through the door without knocking, according to her suit. The unit had at least five officers with M-4 rifles, supported by at least eight uniformed officers.
The officers entered so quickly, Zorich’s suit alleges, that Kiya didn’t even have time to bark. A tactical officer fired three shots into the dog, and the dog’s “bladder and bowels released and she fell to the floor.” The dog “was laying on the floor in her own waste and blood struggling to breathe. She had a gaping hole in her chest.”
Zorich claims the officers kept trying to talk to her about the natural gas, but she was focused on her dog, whom she’d raised as a puppy and who (she says) had “never shown agression to any person.”
At one point in the raid, Zorich alleges, an officer pointed his firearm at her son’s head and said “One word, motherfucker, and I’ll put three in you.”
Zorich was taken into custody and later given a notice of violation from the Housing Inspector. It listed citations concerning her siding, guard rail, screens, window glass and deck.
When she returned home, she found beds overturned and items that had been on her shelves thrown to the floor.
She is suing St. Louis County and two officers, Corey Zavorka and Robert M. Rinck. Her allegations include unlawful seizure and unlawful infliction of emotional distress (for the killing of the dog) and unlawful retaliation.
We asked the police for a copy of the incident report and any stats on how frequently dogs attack officers who execute warrants. They replied that such information could take up to two weeks to release, given the “massive amount of records requests.”
Welcome to Obamas world..Our country is fallen apart while Americans sit on their ass on their phones watching cable..Good luck guys you going to need it cause this is just the beginning.