K-9 gone, but questions about attack linger in Thibodaux

Ambiguity and uncertainty have clouded and confused the recent incident in Thibodaux where a police dog chased children to the tops of cars during an unrelated arrest of a Thibodaux man stopped for a minor traffic violation.

With racial tensions in the community enflamed and accusations of police racism running rampant, the devil really has been in the details of the case.

Complicating reports of the incident is the fact the five police cars on the scene at the time of the incident did not have working in-car video systems. The department placed a bid on new in-car video systems and had yet to install them in the relatively-new police vehicles.

Thibodaux Police Chief Craig Melancon went step-by-step through what his officers reported happening back on the evening of July 25.

The incident reportedly took place around 8 p.m.

Thibodaux resident Quincy Wagner, 24, was stopped by K-9 Officer Ronnie Comeaux for an obstruction of traffic violation on Sanders Street at the backside of St. Charles Manor Apartments.

Wagner heatedly disputed the citation as his family sat inside his vehicle, a 1993 Buick LeSabre. He reportedly took Comeaux’s clipboard and threw it at his chest.

Chief Melancon clarified this by explaining Wagner had been given the clipboard by Comeaux to sign the citation and Wagner, angry about it and not wanting to sign it, thrust it back at the officer’s chest.

“I don’t want to suggest that he [Wagner] threw it in such an aggressive manner that it hurt the officer. It didn’t,” said Melancon.

Nonetheless, Wagner’s action escalated the situation and he feared Officer Comeaux was going to use a Taser on him in response. So, he took off running, leaving his family in the car.

“There was no reason to tase him at that point,” said Melancon “I don’t quite understand why he felt he was going to be tased.”

Comeaux is licensed to carry a Taser, but Melancon wasn’t sure if Comeaux was carrying one that day.

Whether or not Comeaux was carrying a Taser, there’s no evidence at this point Wagner would have been able to recognize it. Still, the Thibodaux man’s fear of being tased was real enough.

Melancon commented on this aspect of law enforcements officers using Tasers.

“I think that’s responsible to say that people that are going to resist the police and what have you, have some apprehension about being tased,” said Melancon. “I think the verdict is still out on the Tasing gun in many areas of our community.”

But he said Tasers are becoming more accepted in the law enforcement community, because the sense is Tasers have been proven to be less lethal forms of controlling individuals.

“I think there’s some work to be done in terms of Tasers being accepted as a whole by the community,” said Melancon. “If he’s [Wagner] in apprehension of being Tased, I think that’s reasonable.”

Despite admitting a community apprehension toward the use of Tasers, Melancon still questioned why Wagner ran.

Wagner dashed away to a distance of about 150 yards, according to Melancon. He turned back toward Comeaux to surrender, after seeing and hearing Comeaux’s backup, four police cars, arrive.

K-9 officers, like Comeaux, can’t put anyone in the back of their vehicle, as that’s where their dogs are kept. So, another vehicle has to be called to the scene if a suspect is arrested.

Melancon did point out the fact this need for a second vehicle doesn’t deter K-9 officers from making traffic stops or for making such stops uncommon.

Furthermore, two reasons played into the fact so many police cars arrived on the scene so quickly. The traffic stop was made in relatively close proximity to the Police Department. It is common practice for officers listening to the radio to start moving toward the location of a stop, as it is radioed in, as a precaution.

Melancon said Comeaux did radio Wagner was fleeing, so the officers arriving on the scene responded to this fact.

Melancon said Comeaux never lost sight of Wagner as he fled. As a matter of fact, Comeaux stepped back into his patrol car and followed Wagner a short distance in his police car.

As Wagner started coming back toward Comeaux and the arriving officers moved to apprehend him, Comeaux got out of his vehicle to get his dog, Renata, a Belgian Malinois, from the back seat.

Melancon explained it was Comeaux’s intention to bring his dog out to deter Wagner from trying to run, again. But, his action violated department policy.

Comeaux was prohibited from using his dog for a misdemeanor traffic stop. K-9 officers can only use the dogs for a stop if they suspect a felony has been committed.

Breaking department policy was just the beginning of Comeaux’s troubles. He reached into the backseat of his car to leash his dog, taking Renata by the collar – Renata immediately broke free, dashing out of the car.

Melancon said Wagner saw the dog bolt out of the car and immediately dropped to his knees and put his hands in the air. That’s when the other arriving officers grabbed him and began to handcuff him.

The dog dashed past Wagner and the arresting officers before Wagner was actually cuffed. And that’s when the dog spotted the children playing basketball nearby.

Melancon said he thinks the dog had been kept in the back for only about a couple of hours that evening.

“I can tell you that according to all the officers on scene, the dog was never aggressive,” said Melancon. “The guys told me the dog looked as though it was kind of in a playful mood.”

When the children saw the dog coming for them, though, they immediately began running.

He said Comeaux quickly pursued the dog and was able to catch it “rather quickly.”

A previous report stated it took the officers on the scene eight minutes to catch the dog and leash it. He responded to the report saying eight minutes is a “long time” for the dog to run loose with five officers on the scene.

The police chief went on to explain the officers on the scene did not report seeing a child pulled off the roof of a car by the dog, but the kids were certainly scared.

“If the children said they had to jump up on a car, then you have to believe the children. You have to give the benefit of the doubt to the children,” said Melancon. “I just know the children were not bitten and mauled by the animal and I thank God for that.”

Melancon said Comeaux waived all his rights to due process under civil service, admitting his breach of policy, when he could have gone through an informal hearing process. And, he said, Comeaux explained the dog simply got away.

“He [Comeaux] understands he erred in his judgment. It was a bad discretion call to open the door, but his intentions were to simply hold the dog, so that the individual would know that, ‘Hey look, stop, quit running, we have a dog that can catch you,’ which is the wrong thing to use the dog for,” said Melancon. “It was just a bad decision.”

Melancon said the department filed a report and made a complaint on the incident.

Officers were dispatched that night to find the parents of the children and the children were photographed.

He said the parents reported their children were fine and had not been bitten.

“One of the children did have a scratch mark on his back. It wasn’t consistent with that of a dog paw, but there was a scratch on the child’s back. I don’t know where the child got that scratch. The child could have gotten it from the dog. He could have gotten it from the car, when he jumped on the car.” said Melancon.

Shift Commander John Sutton immediately wrote up officer Comeaux.

“My officers felt as though we were admitting immediately that the dog should not have been deployed. It was an unfortunate incident. And we were taking immediate action to address it,” said Melancon.

Comeaux was given a one-day suspension without pay and was removed from the K-9 division, which cut the number of K-9 officers in the division in half.

The original owner of the dog, who sold it to Comeaux, purchased it back, believing the dog could be re-trained.

Some criticized the disciplinary action handed down by the department for Comeaux as being too lenient. Some have even called for his firing.

St. Charles Manor Apartments resident Sheila Williams’ 12-year-old son was one of the boys knocked over by the police dog on July 25.

She said her intentions are clear.

“I never set out for the officer to lose his job. I just wanted him to acknowledge that he was wrong for letting the dog out in the first place,” Williams said.

She said accidents happen.

Since the incident Williams hasn’t spoken with Melancon or any of the officers involved in the initial event.

“I haven’t spoken with the police chief,” she said. “He has apologized through the media, but I would also like an apology from the officer who had the dog as well as the on-shift officer that wouldn’t take my complaint.”

Melancon said he fully intends to speak to Williams and apologize to her. He has made previous attempts, but said he keeps missing Williams

“I should go to Mrs. Williams and I need to do that,” said Melancon.

Williams said she originally went to the police station to file a complaint, but Sutton refused to take her statement. Instead, he just asked her for her name, according to Williams.

“I felt like Officer Sutton should have given me an opportunity to make an official complaint, instead of dismissing me like I didn’t matter,” she said. “I know they like to take care of things themselves, but I still should have been heard.”

It is unclear, but Sutton’s refusal to take her statement may have been due to the fact a complaint had already been filed by the department.

Since the incident, Williams said her son has gone back to his everyday activities of playing outside like a normal 12-year-old boy.

“My son loves dogs and loves to play outside,” she said. “The incident just scared him a little bit. That’s all.”

However, Williams mentioned that Comeaux is a former EMT medic.

“The officer with the dog used to be an EMT medic,” Williams said. “Why wouldn’t he check the children before he left the scene?”

Instead, Williams took her son to Thibodaux Regional Medical Center just to make sure he only had a few scratches on him before heading to the police department.