Police officer shot dead after pointing stun gun at man's dogs as he attended domestic

Originally posted by Thestargateisreal
reply to post by Reconer

 

If he had time to call in his boss, he was there more than 5 mins. Don't ignore the facts because you want to stick up for your brother. Yea I can tell you're a cop.

reply to post by Hillbilly123069

 

Ain't that the truth. I have three cops that come into my office daily. Two young ones, one old one. Young cops? Are loud mouthed and arrogant. Older cop? A perfect gentlmen.

So a cops no allowed to come on here and comment...were talking about the incident now i'm a "loudmouth" all your doing is speculating, talking crap, and generally just having a bad attitude. I contributed some pretty decent content and point-of-view from this "loudmouth" doing this everyday. Let me guess you work at a gas station. Yep...knew it.

I have a suggestion....do a ride along for 1 shift or 2...preferably 2nd shift...and you'll have a different outlook on everything. Its simple...if you want to know what we do..just ride along...dont speculate and sit back and talk crap

Originally posted by Thestargateisreal
reply to post by Reconer

 

If he had time to call in his boss, he was there more than 5 mins. Don't ignore the facts because you want to stick up for your brother. Yea I can tell you're a cop.

reply to post by Hillbilly123069

 

Ain't that the truth. I have three cops that come into my office daily. Two young ones, one old one. Young cops? Are loud mouthed and arrogant. Older cop? A perfect gentlmen.

So a cops no allowed to come on here and comment...were talking about the incident now i'm a "loudmouth" all your doing is speculating, talking crap, and generally just having a bad attitude. I contributed some pretty decent content and point-of-view from this "loudmouth" doing this everyday. Let me guess you work at a gas station. Yep...knew it.

I have a suggestion....do a ride along for 1 shift or 2...preferably 2nd shift...and you'll have a different outlook on everything. Its simple...if you want to know what we do..just ride along...dont speculate and sit back and talk crap

reply to post by drew1749

I really sort of do. Obviously not as extreme but come on they threatened the mans dog ffs. I don't see how the cops are in the right here. From what we know of the story the cops were wrong. We can guess anything about it like "oh the guardian got it wrong and reported wrong, it happened like this." but doing that is guessing. Going off what we have the cops were wrong.

No ....going of what we have the cops were right!

Police were called to a disturbance...they attended.....no warrant needed!.......dogs prone to attack a police officer, he did not present a fire arm, he presented a stun gun/taser....the police officer never got a chance to subdue the dogs, the home-owner shot him in the face and killed him.

Subsequent facts state that the home owner had multiple weapons and drugs, including drug related "paraphernalia" in his house.


In what part of this scenario do you consider the cops to be wrong?

If I am getting this correctly, Freemansburg PD is a small community PD?

And why did the officer approach through the back yard? That makes little sense. It might also explain the issue with the dogs. Were they tied up back there, or behind a fence in the back? Or were they actually let loose?

I think a lot of this falls back on the chief, IMO.

Lasso sounds like he was a good officer, and this is a sad story.





Edit: Oh, and to all the people who are trying to defend the officer's lack of a warrant with the excuse of a disturbance, please learn the law.

You can only go warrant-less if it is a disturbance IN PROGRESS. In all other cases, you can only go on the property with the owner's permission, or with a warrant. So Hitcho did have a legitimate point.

--William Clancy, of 126 Washington St. in Freemansburg, called 911 at 5 p.m. after a confrontation with Hitcho about how fast Hitcho was driving. . . . When Lasso arrived, police said, Clancy directed him to Hitcho's home, about 100 yards up the alley.--

So the neighbor calls 911 AFTER the confrontation. Officer shows up, and the neighbor tells him where Hitcho lives (which is about 100 yards away). The officer travels the 100 yards to Hitcho's property. Hitcho is apparently inside his house already, so the disturbance is NOT in progress. Therefore, the officer would have needed a warrant to come onto the property, if Hitcho asked for one.

reply to post by Reconer


Having a little trouble respecting my opinion? Twisting my words? Making things up? If you aren't a cop you're sure acting like one. Take what you want, leave things out, make things up to bridge the gap. You're a real credit to your proffesion.

p.s. Respect you've earned in that post? Zero. Want respect? Earn it.

reply to post by Reconer

The police are more commonly interacting with the general public through intimidation. They're tazering the handicapped, elderly, distraught, victims and lame. Sometimes to death. There are a ridiculous amount of videos out there showing the total disregard of the law by those sworn to uphold it. My brother was a Tx DPS, I was on the list for the Ar state police academy before I was distracted by some purty nurse friends of my mom.
I thought hard about what i wanted to do. 1 asp told me about being out 1 hr from backup holding a gun to the head of a guy to keep his buddies off him. I followed the nurses.
I know well what goes on out there. You still get more flies with honey. The job is about helping people, not pushing them around, which is all you're seeing anymore. Lawful citizens now fear the law where unlawful hate. Its so easy to fix it too.

reply to post by Thestargateisreal


i have, a few times.

only problem i had with an LEO was a state trooper who being fed some bs about me. he was sure i was some big time drug dealer, lol. small town, i was the new kid. 15yo at the time and didn't know anything about that stuff.

the local cops were nice to me, it pissed off the trooper when i used to get a ride home from the local cops.

even the other times i was arrested i was treated nicely, way later and in another state, btw. (not for drugs)

that dude was soooo wrong to shoot that cop, RIP.

lasso didn't need a warrant, you don't shoot illegal trespassers in the face with shotguns and you don't kill a cop

that your dogs have cornered for such a long time.

it's premeditated murder in my book.


and i'm sure that dirtbag is all over ATS reading all the "cops kill dogs" threads too and was afraid it was going to happen to his "children"

or maybe one of them was his mother?

most of the comments here are insane.

reply to post by drew1749


The cops were wrong in what way exactly?

There was a disturbance with a neighbor over George Hitcho Jr driving too fast on a shared roadway(the neighbor has children)

The neighbor called the police to mediate the situation, when the officer arrived he was directed to George Hitcho's residence.

When the officer tried to make contact George Hitcho, Hitcho tells the officer to get off his property unless he has a warrant.

The officer calls for backup and a supervisor arrives 9 minutes later to find Officer Lasso being threatened by George Hitcho's dogs.

The supervisor instructs Officer Lasso to tase the dogs but before he can George Hitcho shoots him in the face and kills him.

Where exactly did the police go wrong?

reply to post by fooks

--lasso didn't need a warrant,--

Yes, he did, actually, as it was not a disturbance in progress.

--you don't shoot illegal trespassers in the face with shotguns--

Yeah you do. That is the point of the 2nd Amendment. Castle Doctrine.

--and you don't kill a cop--

Castle Doctrine still applies, cop or not.

It's a shame, but he decided to pick up a gun and take a life. He was not innocent. I would do what ever it took to defend my loved ones (humans or animal, doesn't matter). I would expect anyone else to do the same.

reply to post by Lemon.Fresh



Your wrong bro...and your not in the legal system and definitely not a police officer. There are 2 types of warrants Search warrant and an Arrest warrant. Search warrant is after you have probable cause there are fruits of a crime or criminally possessed items...etc. He did not need this warrant and it is definitely not applicable in the most remote way.

An arrest warrant is issued when you dont pay your traffic ticket...a fine...or failure to appear for court for a crime you were charged with and refused to attend for a hearing, trial...etc. This was also non applicable...nor did he need to retrieve either one of these. If a crime was suspected as being committed...an officer responds to investigate...if we feel there are items of the crime that will be irretrievably lost and we have probable cause then we can post an officer at the house to make sure they dont...IE flush the drugs...go get a warrant wrote up, signed by the judge...and served. This has nothing to do with this case nor all of your ideas of its application.

You can not and will not commit a crime nor refused to provide information or talk to an officer for him to make that determination...once its determined then either crime or no crime...officer leaves or arrests...and in alot of the times told to not do it again at the officer's discretion.

I hope your actually learning here so your not jacked up in the future making people believe your posts. Oh...like I said earlier...just ride along with a police officer if you have the guts and learn a thing or two on the beat.

reply to post by fooks


My first real brush with the police was when two of them came in plain clothes to my cashier job when I was 17 years old. They insisted that I could sell them marajuana. Obviouosly they were wrong. Came back two days later in uniform. Same guys. Harassed me some more. They regularly made appearences solo after that. About a month later I found their drug dealer, but they were nowhere to be found. So I called a real cop and they "bagged" the dealers in the parking lot selling drugs from their ford escort. Ever since that's happened, and the continuing issue of meeting stupid cops, I have zero respect. They're below normal citizen's intelligence level thanks to their ego in many cases.

It could be a local thing. Judging from the amount of police publicity that clearly depicts them acting very poorly I kind of doubt it though. I think all cops should go through more public relations training than what they get. They operate too much like a "boys club" and whenever someone blows a whistle they ban together and deal with that person.

Originally posted by Drunkenparrot

. . .

Where exactly did the police go wrong?

Because Hotcho, though a mouth-breathing, loud-mouth, drunken, drugged-up idiot, was correct.

The officers did in fact need a warrant, as it was not a disturbance IN PROGRESS.

I am unclear as to the situation with the dogs (were they already out there, or were they let out?).

Sucks that a good officer died because to this douche-bag, though. Makes me a little sick.

reply to post by Lemon.Fresh


You dont shoot people unless your life is in an immediate threat of bodily harm or death...I guess the next time someone comes to my house and refuses to leave I can shoot them

FYI this was not the mail man or a crazy ex refusing to leave...oh how many people would shoot that crazy ex...and I guess according to you its legal once you tell them to leave.

You dont run from the police when you commit crimes nor do you get your dogs out as an aggressive weapon and hide in your house demanding a warrant that has no F'ng application if any of you had a clue. But you will continue to not have a clue.

OORAH fallen one! May your kids remember your bravery and sacrifice...

reply to post by Wyn Hawks


The feeling being portrayed from that story is not the same feeling of the other stories that we all have read of when a police officer kills an innocent. I wonder why that is? If you read that story and you read the thomas story or the Bart shooting, they dont come across the same way. I know there is a word for that.

If anyone tried to tazer my dog just because they feel unsafe, while they are on MY property. Doesn't that give me the right to protect my animal? I love dogs, they're loyal and help keep my girlfriend, me and my house safe. My dog is considered part of the family. He's fed, and he's showered by us. He's pretty much our kid.

You can't come into someones property without a search warrant. Although I don't agree with killing the police officer, i'd much rather have tazered him instead. Don't mess with peoples property, peoples pets, or peoples family or be prepared to face repercussions.

My condolences to the family and much shame to the chief of police.

reply to post by Hillbilly123069



Dude Im not talking about all the outragous videos on the internet.

Im talking about my daily beat where Im pulling snakes out of elderly peoples houses, responding to fatality accidents, fires, EMS calls, vicious dog calls, disturbances (just like this), and everything else in between.

I havnt shot my taser in 3 years...ive turned it on and pointed the laser on them and was ready to shoot...but they chill out and in turn so do I once its safe enough.

Ride along the beat and get your head straight...real life is not Youtube. Yeah im sure every cop has tasered a handicapped lady before...crap everyone on my department has we all love to brag about it to one another...

Get real man!!!

Bottom line, No officer in the United States has right to step on your property without a warrant and be ordered by his boss to shoot (MURDER/KILL) your animals. People have a bond with animals we always have and in some cases they are family and we would kill and die for them. This man was obviously attached to his dogs and didnt want to see them harmed or killed like any SANE person. The officer had no right neither did his superior to give that order or to act on it so......its justified. A life was lost to save the lives of two. Dogs they eat,sleep,poop and pee. Humans they also eat,sleep,poop and pee. no difference between dogs and bipedal wolfs who slaughter lambs on a daily basis.

reply to post by Reconer


Why shoot the dogs? Are police officers above the law? Why was an animal control unit not called? A stun gun is not intended as a means to control an animal, nor is a gun. They're in the wrong. You seem to share the same above the law attitude. Makes me sick.

I think the reason that stems from this is all the news reports and stories of all the bad police activity that has been going on as of late. They said this guy may have had a mental issue so, the police officer may have been the icing on the cake so to speak, unfortunately. It is awful that this had to happen and I for one will pray for the ones that he left behind because they are going through a really horrible time right now.