August 16, 2008

Misty, a teacup poodle, died while being rushed to the vet. Her pet parents were stopped for speeding near San Marcos, Texas. (Pet Pulse Photo Illustration by Mike Lloyd)

SAN MARCOS, Texas -- In the middle of the night, a young couple watched in horror as their beloved pet tittered between life and death.

Down the road, a couple minutes later, a young police officer was in a high-speed pursuit of a vehicle trying to evade a traffic stop.

On southbound Interstate 35 near San Marcos, Texas, a tangle of human emotion collided on Tuesday, August 5, at about 12:30 a.m.

Missy laid across Krystal Hernandez's lap as Michael Gonzalez raced to the New Braunfels Veterinarian Clinic. The teacup poodle's airway was blocked -– she was choking on food.

The couple zoomed past Officer Paul Stephens allegedly at a clip of 95 miles per hour in a 70 mph-zone.

Stephens initiated a routine traffic stop. Gonzalez pulled over. Immediately, Stephens asked the driver to move to the end of the overpass.

The car started towards the wider, safer shoulder, then suddenly, the vehicle jerked back onto the interstate. Cutting across lanes of traffic, Gonzalez sped off.

Stephens followed, calling for back-up. A three-mile, high-speed chase ensued, where Gonzalez cut in front of a tractor trailer, passed traffic on the right shoulder and finally pulled over for a second time.

This time Gonzalez followed Stephens' orders.

"The driver got out of the car and started screaming, 'she's dead, she's dead, she's dead,' " San Marcos Police Chief Howard Williams said. "So the officer was on guard anyways because this was not normal behavior for a traffic stop."

"But now he's facing the driver in a state of hysteria and he has no idea who 'she' is, or what he means by 'she's dead.' "

"Looking in the vehicle Stephens sees Hernandez and Missy, the officer then realizes the couple is in distress over their dog," says Williams.

"I can understand the officer being hyped, but once he found out this was a life-threatening situation he should have cut it off, and been less confrontational," said Williams after reviewing the patrol car's video of the traffic stop.

According to Stephens and Officer Joyce Bender, the back-up officer, the dog had no muscle movement, her eyes were fixed and Missy's tongue was outside of her mouth.

Williams estimates that only five to eight minutes had passed from the time the couple left their home to the moment both officers began talking to the couple on the side of the highway.

Bender worked to dislodge the food from the poodle's throat and then performed canine CPR.

"The other officer did a much better job trying to calm the passenger down," Williams said of Bender's actions. "She tried to literally help the dog and revive the dog."

Divided by the vehicle and the roar of passing traffic, the two officers responded separately to the couple.

"This is when he lectured (Gonzalez) on how he was driving and said 'it's just a dog, you can get another one,' " Williams said. "So that only inflamed the situation and made it worse. You can't talk to people that way when their world is coming down around them."

"They (the couple) were just trying to deal with that emergency and doing everything they thought they should do to save that dog -- the officer should have recognized that and worked to help them in that emergency."

While the couple asked to continue on to the vet and return for their citation later, or for Hernandez to go while Gonzalez stayed behind, Williams says the officer responded correctly.

"He should not have let them just go -- the driver was in such a state of hysteria that he should not have been allowed to drive," Williams said. "But having said that, the officer should have tried to calm the situation down and find other solutions."

Williams says the two officers then regrouped at the patrol car to discuss the situation.

"They believed the dog was already dead and that is why the officers felt no urgency to do an emergency run to New Braunfels for a dog that had already died," Williams said.

But if the dog had appeared alive, Williams says his officers most likely would have given the couple and Misty a cruiser ride to the vet.

However, later that day Gonzalez filed a complaint against Stephens, alleging the officers' conferencing had wasted valuable time in saving the dog's life.

"Now, to be fair, I know the owner and girlfriend were both convinced the dog was still alive when they were driving there, but when we pulled the car over the dog hadn't breathed for about five minutes and they still had another 20 minutes to go to the vet -– the dog wasn't going to make it."

Not being aware of their dog's death, Williams says, was due to the panic the couple was in. The level of Gonzalez's distress was evident in the police video as he handed the officers merely a piece of paper from his wallet instead of his driver's license. Stephens had to ask for the license again before Gonzalez realized it.

"But that doesn't excuse how my officer handled the situation," said Williams whose department's internal investigation of the incident concluded Wednesday.

When Stephens reported for duty on Wednesday evening, Williams ordered a reprimand for violating the department's policies for talking to people with disrespectful language. He was also ordered to counseling with his chain of command to review the tapes.

Since then Stephens has watched the video of the incident and "was pretty embarrassed and disappointed that he handled it so poorly."

Less than 12 hours following the reprimand, the media jumped on the story and Williams was flooded with e-mails and calls.

"Most of the e-mails are coming in from people who are calling for the officer's head, 20 percent say the officer did the right thing, and 10 percent say I should be fired for disciplining the officer," said Williams of the public outcry.

"People think he is some mean, dog-hating ogre, but really he is just a young, inexperienced officer who was confronted with a situation that he didn't know how to handle," Williams said. "And while he was trying to make the point that you can't endanger the lives of people, the message came across that he didn't care about their problem."

Stephens, 23, has been serving with the San Marcos Police Department for 15 months. Williams believes the rookie will learn from this mistake and go on to have a long, successful career.

While Gonzalez's ticket still remains, the department has spoke to the prosecutor about having it dismissed because "we understand, we don't excuse it, but under those circumstances, they shouldn't receive a citation," Williams said.

Williams cautions that in emergencies "you still have to drive safely" and driving with reckless disregard can do more harm than good.

Since pet ambulances don't exist, Williams suggests that if pet owners find themselves too distressed to drive their animal for emergency medical attention, they should call their local police department.

"We are responsible for protecting lives and property, so we have a responsibility to help you solve whatever problem you might face," Williams said. "We are obligated to make some attempt to do so -- it doesn't hurt to call and ask."

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