Parker, Deputy Sheriff Roger Seal.Photo:Courtesy of Russell Oliver
Courtesy of Russell Oliver
When Parker, a 9-year-old black Labrador mix, ambled onto Hillary Mayberry’s property, lost in a summer storm, the Missouri woman tried frantically to find the dog’s owner.
Snapping photographs of the dog laying on her porch, she posted the pictures to Facebook, asking “Does anyone recognize this dog?” Then she called the Stoddard County Sheriff’s Office to help find the owners.
But what happened next that August day shocked Mayberry and many others in the rural community.
Although Parker’s family — Bryan and Tylla Pennington and their four children, who are all listed as plaintiffs in the suit — responded within 30 minutes of the Mayberry’s Facebook post, they were already too late, their lawyer, Russ Oliver, tells PEOPLE.
Deputy Sheriff Roger Seal.Courtesy of Russell Oliver
The lawsuit filed against Stoddard County Sheriff Carl Hefner and the deputies (Maddox has since been demoted) alleges that the officers violated the family’s First, Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights when they unlawfully seized and killed Parker.
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The Penningtons are requesting a jury trial and seeking $5 million in damages, according to the suit.
Ina letterthat the sheriff’s office posted to their Facebook account in September, Heffner said “the deputy who responded to this call did not act appropriately during the performance of his duties.” He fired Seal, and, according to the letter, demoted the supervising corporal and placed him on unpaid administrative leave.
But, Oliver — who served as the elected prosecutor of Stoddard County for 12 years until 2022 — says the sheriff hasn’t gone far enough, and alleges that the shooting of lost dogs has become “common practice” at the office.
“We believe that this is not an isolated incident,” Oliver tells PEOPLE.
Stoddard County Sheriff’s Office.Google maps
Google maps
But in a September letter addressed to Sheriff Heffner, Colonel Eric T. Olson of the highway patrol declined to investigate the case because the sheriff’s office had already internally investigated and submitted the findings to prosecutors for potential criminal charges.
No criminal charges have been filed against the deputies, Oliver says.
“This situation exemplifies so much of my frustrations while I served as prosecutor in regard to the conduct of law enforcement, particularly the Stoddard County Sheriff’s Office. This attitude — of arrogance and hubris, of acting with impunity and doing what they want — is now on steroids.”
source: people.com
