Police arrested Leon Rosby, 52, on suspicion of obstructing police officers on Sunday near the scene of a SWAT stand-off with suspected armed robbers. Rosby was walking his rottweiler, Max, and videotaping the incident on his cell phone.
"I never meant my dog to be killed and shot like that," Rosby said Tuesday. "He wasn't just shot. He was executed."
A statement from the police department detailed his alleged interference: "This interference included loud, distracting music (from the individual's vehicle), and his intentional walking within close proximity to armed officers, while holding an 80-pound Rottweiler on a long leash-line," the statement said.
The video, posted on YouTube, shows Rosby walking his dog along a sidewalk and recording officers on his cell phone. Another man who was also apparently recording the police incident was standing just a few feet away from Rosby but is not approached by officers.
Officers stare at Rosby for several seconds and begin walking toward him. Rosby puts his dog into his car and, as they near, he turns around and puts his hands behind his back.
At this point, Rosby can be heard saying something about civil rights.
"They had asked me why am I there?" Rosby later told NBC4. "And I said I was filming them so that no one's civil rights were being violated."
The officers handcuff him and the dog begins barking out of one of the car's open windows. The dog jumps out and begins barking at the officers.
One of the officers reached toward the dog several times, apparently trying to grab its leash. The dog lunged at him and he fired four shots at the dog.
The dog fell to the ground, yelping and writhing in the street. The animal's owner, still handcuffed, cried out and his legs buckled.
The video is available on YouTube here. Warning: As previously described, it contains extremely disturbing content.
Michael Gulden, Rosby's attorney, said his client was targeted because he had a pending lawsuit against the Hawthorne Police Department. Rosby alleged that police beat him without cause.
"We'll be amending the complaint to include another excessive force action as well," Gulden said.
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