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Animal Services sends Grover Beach dog case to DA’s office

December 28, 2016
Kings County Deputy Sheriff Alex Geiger and "Boss" with a demonstration at Hidden Valley Park in Hanford, California in 2013.

Kings County Deputy Sheriff Alex Geiger and “Boss” with a demonstration at Hidden Valley Park in Hanford, California in 2013.

San Luis Obispo County Animal Services has competed its investigation into the deadly Grover Beach dog attack and has submitted the case to the District Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors are expected to announce later this week whether they will file charges.

On Dec. 13, Grover Beach Police Officer Alex Geiger’s Belgian Malinois attacked Betty Long, 85, in he front yard. Long’s neighbor, David Fear, stepped in to assist the elderly woman, and the dog turned his aggression on the Grover Beach man.

Fear lost six pints of blood as a result of the attack. The dog bites severed two arteries in his arm, and Fear developed infections from the bites.

He died from his injuries on Dec. 16. Fear is now being called a hero, as Long survived the attack despite suffering serious injuries.

Though the Belgian Malinois did not belong to the Grover Beach Police Department, it is not clear, though, if the dog was trained as a K-9 officer.

Prior to going to work for the Grover Beach force in September, Geiger worked as an officer with the Exeter Police Department. He also worked for the Kings County Sheriff’s Department.

Geiger turned over the Belgian Malinois to Animal Services following the attack. Animal services euthanized the dog.


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Why are we not told if San Luis Obispo County Animal Services recommend filing charges or not filing charges. Don’t we normally hear the recommendation of the agency doing the investigation?, of course knowing the DA can either follow the recommendation or decide against it. Given our DA’s recent actions and in-actions this situation pretty much finalizes what we can expect from our DA in the future, either support the “special” people or serve the regular people of the county, I guess we will see.


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Police are allowed to shoot your dog if it moves or barks. That’s right, if police show up at your property—whether invited or uninvited—-they are allowed to kill YOUR dog if they feel threatened by it. They do this all the time.


But if you shoot THEIR dog, you’ll be brought up on charges of assualting/murdering a police officer!


To make matters worse, it now appears that if a policeman’s dog gets out and kills YOU on YOUR property, it’s not necessarily a negative for a police officer. Just because someone’s hands were chewed off resulting in their death doesn’t mean a crime has been committed.


Cops can and do kill us and our pets. They enjoy general immunity from these actions.


Nothing but trouble can come from such an arrangement. Hold Dow’s feet to the fire. He needs to try this case as if the police officer had the same rights as we serfs do.


But there’s not much we can do about it…..


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Literally shaking my head on this one. Just can’t understand why the dog owner hasn’t faced charges yet. I’m not anti-cop. I’m not anti-dog. I just think there’s a HUGE double standard here, probably because of the dog owner’s profession.


And I’m not a fan of “what it’s” but what if the dog was a pit bull? What if the victims were children? What if the dog owner was a non-white non-LEO? What if the horrific mauling incident was caught on tape?


Would things be different? Sadly I think yes, charges would’ve been filed long ago. My faith in the SLO county justice system is eroding…again.


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It seems a lot of people keep these dogs to train and compete in Protection Sports. http://psak9.org/ I wonder?


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while i agree it’s likely a regular civilian would be behind bars, I still think we should wair to see what te DA says before raising hell.

I don’t agree with the paid admin leave. that certainly would never occur elsewhere. if you were lucky you might get pto but that’s it.


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Yes, perhaps the DA will decide that Mr. Fear wasn’t mauled by the dog and that the older woman wasn’t either.


Or, perhaps the DA will conclude that although the dogs got out, it wasn’t the fault of the dog owner.


Or, maybe it will simply be called an “accident.”


There’s no need to wait to raise hell. Like you said, and like everyone knows—-if a mundane, non-badge carrying, non-general immunity enjoying civilian had dogs like this they’d be in jail.


Officer Geiger is not in jail. Special treatment for those who live off of our taxes and the fines they levy upon us does not make me happy and warm inside. No, it makes me very, very angry.


It should make everyone else angry too.


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Again, as many people have pointed out, there seem to be many facts missing. It is entirely possible that there is a delay in the case for some other reason. I too am appalled that someone would even have a dog like this. Just let it play out. I think it would be extraordinary if Reiger is not charged with manslaughter. But I do not have all the facts, just the same as you do not.


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I was an HR director for 20+ years in public, private, and non-profit. If I put you on Admin Leave with Pay, it meant I was “dotting my i’s and crossing my t’s” before I fired you. Only employees who were going to be fired got Admin Leave with Pay. The kiss of death in the HR world.


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That would be fine but I have seen too many cases (some local) where the LEO unions have successfully defended the jobs in situations like these. Maybe whomever does the HR for the PDs doesn’t do such a great job of “dotting my i’s and crossing my t’s”. Perhaps intentionally?


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Why should the HR people really care?, if they lose it won’t cost them their job, any money paid out is only taxpayer money and won’t come from any departments budget. For them it’s never a lose lose situation.


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……..Prosecutors are expected to announce later this week whether they will file charges…….


Charges? Just because a police officer keeps vicious animals who get out and chew the hands off neighbors, knock them to the ground and bite them, killing them etc. doesn’t mean anyone committed a crime.


Well, that’s not exactly true. Anyone but a member of the protected, general immunity class would be in jail right now if their dog got out and chewed and ripped a neighbor to death.


I’m sure whatever charges come about, they won’t be nearly as serious as they would be for a non-cop dog owner.


Is anyone else sick and tired of being part of the underclass? Is anyone else sick and tired of seeing cops violate the rights of mundanes, become millionaires via double-dipping, pensions, etc? Is anyone else sick and tired of the special rights and privileges they enjoy at our expense?


The cop showed gross negligence by keeping the animal, period. As an expert dog trainer, it goes without saying that this dog learned how to attack people at the hands of his owner, the cop.


If anyone else trained a dog to attack, and let it get out to kill someone, such a person would be IN JAIL. But not all of us are cops.


I’m sure Dan Dow will probably find a creative way to get the cop off easy. He’ll need the support of law enforcement if he’s to win the next election.


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I agree in general with your views. However, you exaggerate on the financial benefits from police work. They do get more pay and benefits than people with equivalent training and skills but some of that is earned due to their heavy and erratic work schedules and some is earned by the risks of the job. I think they earn what they get AS LONG AS they do their jobs competently, honestly and ethically. Some police departments do a better job of this than others. It remains to be seen how this case is handled.


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I never saw any info the Shepherd participated in the attack so let’s not be hasty. I would like to know how they got out, what their history is and so on.


We have nothing to go on in discussing this. The people we pay to do our business should not keep us in the dark all the time, they do all the time. The pound (and DA) should publish info on this incident at all stages so we know what is going on. Our transparent democracy is little of either.


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From the photo above, looks like the secret is out. Please do away with the 2nd dog, the shepherd too.


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Absolutely. The second dog was also trained by the sociopath to knock people down, chew their hands off, bite them in vulnerable places, etc.


The cop has demonstrated that he is not responsible enough to own pets. Euthanize the shepherd before it gets out and hurts someone.


How is this guy not in jail?


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While I think that the owner made a couple of huge mistakes in judgment and must pay for them, I don’t (yet) see a reason for euthanizing the second dog. If I remember correctly, it also got out but I don’t recall reading that it attacked anyone. If that is the case, it isn’t a real threat to the community at large.


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