Md. mayor's dogs killed by SWAT after cops deliver pot

[chillinwill]

From: http://rawstory.com/news/2008/SWAT_t...s_in_0731.html

BERWYN HEIGHTS, Md. — A SWAT team raided the home of a Washington, D.C.-area mayor, killing his two black Labrador retrievers and seizing an unopened package of marijuana delivered there.

Prince George's County Police said Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo brought a 32-pound package of marijuana into his home that had been delivered by officers posing as delivery men. The Tuesday evening raid was conducted by county police narcotics officers and a sheriff's office SWAT Team.


The package was addressed to Calvo's wife, Trinity Tomsic. His mother-in-law had asked the supposed delivery men to leave the package outside. Calvo has not been charged, though police said he, his wife and his mother-in-law are "persons of interest" in an ongoing investigation.


"We never opened the box. We have nothing to do with this box," Calvo said.


Sheriff's office spokesman Sgt. Mario Ellis says deputies "apparently felt threatened" when they shot the dogs.


Calvo said officers entered about 7:30 p.m., first shooting 7-year-old Payton. They then pursued 4-year-old Chase, who ran away and was shot by police from behind, he said.


Calvo said he doesn't have any idea how the package ended up at his house. He called the raid "the most traumatic experience" of his life.
Calvo, who called his town "Mayberry inside the Capital Beltway," gets a small stipend as mayor and works at the SEED Foundation, a nonprofit that runs public boarding schools for at-risk students. His wife works as a state finance officer.


"These were two beautiful black Labradors who were well-known in the community. We walked them twice a day; little kids knew their names and would come up to them and pet them," he said.

[Sitbcknchill]

Smells of a setup to me. But who knows maybe Mayor Calvo likes to smoke that reefer on occasion

Or maybe one of their dogs shit on someones lawn for the last time.....

Either way it is pretty messed up that all that was really accomplished from this was two innocent dogs being shot.

Way to go SWAT showem' how its done

[FuBai]

Originally Posted by Sitbcknchill

Smells of a setup to me. But who knows maybe Mayor Calvo likes to smoke that reefer on occasion

Or maybe one of their dogs shit on someones lawn for the last time.....

Either way it is pretty messed up that all that was really accomplished from this was two innocent dogs being shot.

Way to go SWAT showem' how its done

A 32 pounder? He must have some big skins.

As for the dogs - they may seem less significant, as animals, but they do have a very real emotional impact on people, with whom they make bonds. If my dog was killed I would be ridiculously furious - and how the hell is a Labrador a frightening dog? The worst that could happen is that it slobbers on you until you drown in a sea of saliva. Then again, I suppose they were young, black and carrying an offensive instrument (if you've ever smelt a dog fart you will know just how offensive) so what could they expect?

[newgrower]

Swim has heard of cops dressing up like delivery men and delivering drugs to someone before. Does anybody know what this really accomplishes? If the ups man comes to swim's house with a package for him, he's going to sign and take the package even if he doesn't know what it is - could be from a relative, a give away, something swim's ordered a while back and forgot about. Might even think it was something else that swim was expecting.

Swim's question is what kind of proof do the cops get from delivering drugs to someone? It doesn't seem like they could prove that the person was expecting the package or had anything to do with the delivery.

[Spare Chaynge]

swim thinks if someone were to sign for a package with drugs in it they take legal responsibility for it.. when you sign for a package you accept that you own what ever is in that package you know whats in it and you are then legally responsible.

[Bajeda]

Not black labs! Come on, how the fuck could you 'feel threatened' by such sweet creatures. And whats the deal with the excessive force? Stupid cops always feel the need to go in guns blazing. Couldn't they calmly say that its a bust, show their badges, and then just have guns ready in case something goes to shit (not likely seeing who the suspect was), instead of running in screaming with guns waving shooting at anything that jumps? Retarded machismo.

[Heretic.Ape.]

SWAT teams are an abomination. The labs probably just wanted to play fetch.

[Shiacmkmleer]

Wait... so
Police delivered drugs to a house.
Mayor's mom (mother in law?) signs for package doesn't open it because it is addressed to Mayor's wife.
Police bust in to house shoot dogs in the back

They then pursued 4-year-old Chase, who ran away and was shot by police from behind, he said.

arrest everyone then release them without charge

wtf?

[KiTcHiN]

Haha, I'd enjoy seeing the "32 pound" package. Sometimes swat/police officers are uneducated and act as if weed costs an extremely large amount of money. They like to take regular street weed and tack on the price tag of some higher potent strand such as Lamb's Breath, AK, KB.

Honestly though, is there an online article for this that may contain pictures?

[Panthers007]

I hope the mayor called P.E.T.A.* on these animals who killed the Labradors.

* People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals - militant animal-rights group in the USA.

[Stephenwolf]

Some good is bound to come from this if the mayor isn't charged with anything... He definitely won't be ok with his police ever doing No-Knock raids on anyone... Chased the fucking dog to shoot it, Because they felt threatened... How can you feel threatened by something(or someone) running AWAY from you?

Stephenwolf added 6 Minutes and 23 Seconds later...

ok, so apparently the police had intercepted the package, it wasn't a police trap, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...080103916.html has more details than we were given here...

Stephenwolf added 5 Minutes and 18 Seconds later...

police still shouldn't have killed the dogs.

[newgrower]

So they set it up where the mayor would wind up holding the bag? Then they brought in outside officers that treated the mayor like he was a violent career criminal and chased down his dogs to shoot them. If the mayor was an anti-drug crusader, this would be funny.

[kaczynski]

Yeah SWIM read about this. Poor dogs. SWIM wonders if there isn't some sort of SWAT team policy regarding large dogs, as a "safety precaution."

[Panthers007]

Maybe the package was shipped by one of his rivals for Mayor. It'll be interesting to see who tries to capitalize on this situation. Sounds like the same story with the mayor of Washington, DC - Marion Barry. If you go into politics down there, dig a moat:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv...ndal/barry.htm

Oops! Gotta run - my shoe is ringing...

Reputation Comments on this post:

lol

[old hippie 56]

The mainstream press has picked this up big time. Doubt anything comes out of it tho.

[kaczynski]

Originally Posted by old hippie 56

The mainstream press has picked this up big time. Doubt anything comes out of it tho.

Yeah this was on the CNN website yesterday. As usual the media is allowed to fill time slots with this to create the illusion that something's being done.

[Panthers007]

Here is an update from this mess:
================================================== ==============

Dogs Killed In Raid On Mayor's Home
Maryland Home Was Apparently Target Of Pot Smuggling Scheme; Police Conduct Questioned

BERWYN HEIGHTS, Md., Aug. 8, 2008

A Maryland mayor says he was the victim of a drug smuggling plan. It led to raid on his home and the shooting of his two dogs. Michelle Gielan reports and Harry Smith talks to the mayor and his wife.

(CBS/ AP) Mayor Cheye Calvo got home from work, saw a package addressed to his wife on the front porch, and brought it inside, putting it on a table.

Suddenly, police with guns drawn kicked in the door and stormed in, shooting to death the couple's two dogs and seizing the unopened package.

In it were 32 pounds of marijuana. But the drugs evidently didn't belong to the couple.

Police say the couple appeared to be innocent victims of a scheme by two men to smuggle millions of dollars worth of marijuana by having it delivered to about a half-dozen unsuspecting recipients.

The two men under arrest include a FedEx deliveryman; investigators said the deliveryman would drop off a package outside a home, and the other man would come by a short time later and pick it up.

Now, federal authorities say they're looking into how local law enforcement handled the July 29 raid. FBI Agent Rich Wolf said late Thursday that the bureau had opened a civil rights investigation into the case.

A furious Calvo said earlier Thursday that he and his wife, Trinity Tomsic, had asked the government to investigate.

"Trinity was an innocent victim and random victim," Calvo told reporters outside his two-story, red-brick house in this middle-class Washington suburb of about 3,000 people. "We were harmed by the very people who took an oath to protect us."

"It was a horrible, horrible incident," Calvo told Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith Friday, "but I think it's also the kind of thing that happens, and I don't think we would have realized that until it happened to us."

"What's really troubling," Calvo continued, "is they didn't have a proper warrant to do what they did. They actually didn't give us a warrant at all until 71 hours after it happened. And that's really what's disturbing -- despite all the mistakes that were made, they're holding to their guns, saying they did nothing wrong.

"This happened to us. We can't get our dogs back, and we know that. But the reason we asked for federal authorities to investigate this is because this is a systemic problem, and we want to make sure that, while it happened to us and that's a tragedy, we don't want it to happen to anyone else."

Calvo insisted the couple's two black Labradors were gentle creatures and said police apparently killed them "for sport," gunning down one of them as it was running away.

"Our dogs were our children," said the 37-year-old Calvo. "They were the reason we bought this house because it had a big yard for them to run in."

The mayor, who was changing his clothes when police burst in, also complained that he was handcuffed in his boxer shorts for about two hours along with his mother-in-law, and said the officers didn't believe him when he told them he was the mayor. No charges were brought against Calvo or his wife, who came home in the middle of the raid.

Prince George's County Police Chief Melvin High said Wednesday that Calvo and his family were "most likely ... innocent victims," but he would not rule out their involvement, and he defended the way the raid was conducted. He and other officials did not apologize for killing the dogs, saying the officers felt threatened.

The FBI will monitor how effective, fair and professional the law enforcement agency's conduct was during the incident, Wolf said. A police spokesman declined comment Thursday on the FBI investigation.

Police announced Wednesday they had arrested two men suspected in a plot to smuggle 417 pounds of marijuana, and seized a total of $3.6 million in pot. Investigators said the package that arrived on Calvo's porch had been sent from Los Angeles via FedEx, and they had been tracking it ever since it drew the attention of a drug-sniffing dog in Arizona.

Police intercepted it in Maryland, and an undercover detective posing as a deliveryman took it to the Calvo home.

Calvo's defenders - including the Berwyn Heights police chief, who said his department should have been alerted ahead of time - said police had no right to enter the home without knocking.

But officials insisted they acted within the law, saying the operation was compromised when Calvo's mother-in-law saw officers approaching the house and screamed. That could have given someone time to grab a gun or destroy evidence, authorities said.

Neighbors in Berwyn Heights, which Calvo described as "Mayberry inside the Capital Beltway," have rallied around the couple. On Sunday night, supporters gathered on a ballfield to pay tribute to the family and the dogs. A banner on the wooden fence around Calvo's yard read, "Cheye and Trinity, We support you, Friends and Citizens of Berwyn Heights." Around it were dozens of handwritten messages from supporters.

In addition to being the part-time mayor, Calvo works at a nonprofit foundation that runs boarding schools. His wife is a state finance officer.

"When all of this happened I was flabbergasted," said next-door neighbor Edward Alexander. "I was completely stunned because those dogs didn't hurt anybody. They barely bark."

The case is the latest embarrassment for Prince George's County officials. A former police officer was sentenced in May to 45 years in prison for shooting two furniture deliverymen at his home last year, one of them fatally. He claimed that they attacked him. In June, a suspect jailed in the death of a police officer was found strangled in his cell.

Calvo said he was astonished that police have not only failed to apologize, but declined to clear the couple's names.

His wife spoke through tears as she described an encounter with a girl who used to see the couple walking their dogs.

"She gave me a big hug and she said, `If the police shot your dogs dead and did this to you, how can I trust them?'" Tomsic said. "I don't want people to feel like that. I just want them to be proud of our police and proud to live in Prince George's County."

Panthers007 added 629 Minutes and 6 Seconds later...

And Finally:

This, hopefully, will NOT be the last we hear of this - the Mayor and Wife have been cleared of any involvement in the delivery of the alleged marijuana. I wish them well and God-Speed in suing the living crap out these murderous thugs:
================================================== ========

Mayor Cleared In Raid That Killed Dogs
Mayor And Wife No Longer Considered Suspects In Drug Smuggling Scheme

BERWYN HEIGHTS, Md., Aug. 8, 2008
Mayor's Dogs Killed In Raid

A Maryland mayor says he was the victim of a drug smuggling plan. It led to raid on his home and the shooting of his two dogs. Michelle Gielan reports and Harry Smith talks to the mayor and his wife.

(AP) A small-town mayor whose dogs were killed in a drug raid was cleared of any wrongdoing after police had been reluctant to rule out his involvement in drug smuggling or apologize for the violent incident.

Prince George's County Police Chief Melvin High said Friday he called Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo and his wife, Trinity Tomsic, on Thursday to say they were no longer suspected in a drug smuggling scheme.

A SWAT team raided the mayor's home July 29 after intercepting a FedEx package shipped to Tomsic that was filled with 32 pounds of marijuana. Officers broke down the door, shot the two dogs and kept Calvo and his mother-in-law bound for nearly two hours.

Police now believe the drug delivery was part of a scheme that sent packages to the homes of unsuspecting recipients. The packages would then be picked up by someone else shortly after delivery. Two suspects have been arrested in the case.

"The Calvo family members were the apparent victims of a local drug ring," High said in a statement. "I called him to express my sorrow and regret for that and for the loss of the family's beloved dogs."

High stopped short of apologizing for how the drug raid was carried out. He said the police department was conducting a review of the narcotics investigation that led to the raid. The county sheriff has said the dogs' deaths were justified, saying officers felt threatened.

Investigators had been tracking the package that arrived on Calvo's front porch since it drew the attention of a drug-sniffing dog in Arizona.

Calvo and Tomsic requested a federal civil rights investigation of the case on Thursday, and the FBI responded by launching a review. The couple says there may be a systemic abuse of search warrant powers and use of force in the county.

"The deputies opened fire and executed our dogs the very second they broke down our front door," Calvo, 37, said at a news conference on his front lawn Thursday. "We were harmed by the very people who took an oath to protect us."

"It was a horrible, horrible incident," Calvo told Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith Friday, "but I think it's also the kind of thing that happens, and I don't think we would have realized that until it happened to us."

"What's really troubling," Calvo continued, "is they didn't have a proper warrant to do what they did. They actually didn't give us a warrant at all until 71 hours after it happened. And that's really what's disturbing -- despite all the mistakes that were made, they're holding to their guns, saying they did nothing wrong.

"This happened to us. We can't get our dogs back, and we know that. But the reason we asked for federal authorities to investigate this is because this is a systemic problem, and we want to make sure that, while it happened to us and that's a tragedy, we don't want it to happen to anyone else."

Calvo insisted the couple's two black Labradors were gentle creatures and said police apparently killed them "for sport," gunning down one of them as it was running away.

"Our dogs were our children," said the 37-year-old Calvo. "They were the reason we bought this house because it had a big yard for them to run in."

Maryland State Sen. Paul Pinsky, who represents the suburban Washington district, said the case was a good example of frequent police action in minority communities that fails to capture the same level of attention as Calvo's case.

Reputation Comments on this post:

god damn those cops

[cra$h]

wow. Fuck the police. Obviously the mayor isn't going to be armed to the teeth waiting for cops to show up with 2 vicious guard dogs. They're lab's for christ sake. they jump around and want to play tug of war, not go for the throat and rip like a pitbull or police dog. And it's an interesting point about how if this guy wasn't mayor, this wouldn't be nearly as big of a story, but of course the mayor is supposed to be the one in charge of the police, scandal free. But I bet this kind of shit happens on a daily basis. The real question is though, who would waste 32lbs. of weed to frame the mayor? that would be a pretty big package.

[FuBai]

It may not have been done to frame the mayor - it may have been someone's bright idea to try and import it to an adress they beleived would be a beyond suspisicion, and they may have beene intending to break into the house and retrieve it.

[newgrower]

Don't think it was meant to frame the mayor. It looks like they meant to get the pot themselves. It may have been random, though it may have gone through their minds that if this went south and you got cause someone trouble, why not the mayor.

Course, can see this backfiring now. Since they do appear to be caught, the extra media attention to this can't be doing the smugglers any good. But it is good for everyone else because it exposes the fucked up way the five-0 does things.

[Panthers007]

Originally Posted by FuBai

It may not have been done to frame the mayor - it may have been someone's bright idea to try and import it to an adress they beleived would be a beyond suspisicion, and they may have beene intending to break into the house and retrieve it.

No doubt this was the intent. Regards running the police - this attack was launched by county police. They can do anything they want without contacting local police. Contacting the local police would be a courtesy if anything. And not likely to be done by a department that shoots dogs in the back while they are running away.

[chillinwill]

Here is an update from http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i...fY1hgD92ED1OG0

BERWYN HEIGHTS, Md. (AP) — A small-town mayor whose dogs were killed in a drug raid was cleared of any wrongdoing after police had been reluctant to rule out his involvement in drug smuggling or apologize for the violent incident.


Prince George's County Police Chief Melvin High said Friday he called Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo and his wife, Trinity Tomsic, on Thursday to say they were no longer suspected in a drug smuggling scheme.


A SWAT team raided the mayor's home July 29 after intercepting a FedEx package shipped to Tomsic that was filled with 32 pounds of marijuana. Officers broke down the door, shot the two dogs and kept Calvo and his mother-in-law bound for nearly two hours.


Police now believe the drug delivery was part of a scheme that sent packages to the homes of unsuspecting recipients. The packages would then be picked up by someone else shortly after delivery. Two suspects have been arrested in the case.


"The Calvo family members were the apparent victims of a local drug ring," High said in a statement. "I called him to express my sorrow and regret for that and for the loss of the family's beloved dogs."


High stopped short of apologizing for how the drug raid was carried out. He said the police department was conducting a review of the narcotics investigation that led to the raid. The county sheriff has said the dogs' deaths were justified, saying officers felt threatened.


Investigators had been tracking the package that arrived on Calvo's front porch since it drew the attention of a drug-sniffing dog in Arizona.


Calvo and Tomsic requested a federal civil rights investigation of the case on Thursday, and the FBI responded by launching a review. The couple says there may be a systemic abuse of search warrant powers and use of force in the county.


"The deputies opened fire and executed our dogs the very second they broke down our front door," Calvo, 37, said at a news conference on his front lawn Thursday. "We were harmed by the very people who took an oath to protect us."


Calvo did not immediately respond to a telephone message requesting comment Friday. Calvo has said he and his wife considered their dogs to be their children.


Maryland State Sen. Paul Pinsky, who represents the suburban Washington district, said the case was a good example of frequent police action in minority communities that fails to capture the same level of attention as Calvo's case.

[old hippie 56]

Originally Posted by chillinwill

Here is an update from http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i...fY1hgD92ED1OG0

Maryland State Sen. Paul Pinsky, who represents the suburban Washington district, said the case was a good example of frequent police action in minority communities that fails to capture the same level of attention as Calvo's case.

Wonder if the honorable senator will act on this?

[Milk man]

Originally Posted by Panthers007

"What's really troubling," Calvo continued, "is they didn't have a proper warrant to do what they did. They actually didn't give us a warrant at all until 71 hours after it happened.

Life must be easy for police officers when they can get warrants after they search and seize evidence. Oh wait, why do they need warrants? It's not like its in the constitution or anything.[/sarcasm]

[Junket]

Originally Posted by Milk man

Life must be easy for police officers when they can get warrants after they search and seize evidence. Oh wait, why do they need warrants? It's not like its in the constitution or anything.[/sarcasm]

damnnnn good oneeee