Body camera footage of officer-involved shooting of dog to be released at Matthews City Council meeting

MATTHEWS, Mo. — The public will have the opportunity to make their own decision about a controversy which has stirred public sentiment in this small New Madrid County community.

At the 6 p.m. June 12 Matthews City Council meeting, Matthews Police Chief Kenneth Dalton said he will release the body camera footage of an officer-involved shooting of a pit bull on May 30.

According to an investigation conducted by Lt. Casey Riddle with the New Madrid County Sheriff’s Department, the incident occurred during a security check by Matthews police officer Austin Naeger of a condemned house at 105 N. Davis St. in Matthews. In his report, Riddle noted the house was condemned by the Matthews City Council on May 11, 2022, with a 180-day work ordered granted on June 13, 2022, allowing the homeowner to make repairs to the property.

Riddle reported that when the officer found the residence unsecured, he intended to secure the house. While continuing to check the house, the officer found the garage door unsecured and the door leading from the garage inside the house also unsecured.

“Officer Naeger attempted to announce his police presence; however, the canine lunged at him and attempted to attack him. Officer Naeger was justified by defending himself,” Riddle wrote in his investigation report to Dalton. “There is no evidence pointing toward Officer Naeger entering the property to violate any laws. Officer Naeger was carrying out his ‘community caretaker function.’”

Susie Arnold, who was the sole person in the house at the time, said she was sitting on the floor with the two dogs, Savage and Rico, waiting for the home’s occupant to return. She said a friend of the occupant had come to the back door but she told him to wait outside until the occupant returned.

“Not even two minutes later, the door busted open,” Arnold said. “When the cop busted in the door, (the dogs) followed me to the door. I was yelling. As soon as he opened the door, he shot Rico.”

According to Arnold, the officer then pointed his gun at her.

Explaining she was still shaken by the incident, Arnold added, “Rico saved my life because if it hadn’t been for the dog, that cop would have shot me.”

She said on the advice of her lawyer, she did not participate in the Sheriff’s Department’s investigation or provide a statement until her lawyer could be present.

Richard Whiffen, whose wife owns the house at 105 Davis St., said Arnold was assisting in getting the home ready to be checked by the community’s code inspector. He said it was his understanding that the officer was supposed to be conducting a security check of a house at 101 Davis St. and had come to the wrong address.

Whiffen acknowledged the house at 105 Davis St. is not well marked, however he noted the house at 101 Davis does have street numbers at the front door and the mailbox.

He questioned why the officer would enter two doors into the house, rather than call for backup. He also questioned why the officer simply didn’t shut the door when confronted by the dog.

“I think shutting the door would be faster than shooting one of two dogs,” Whiffen said.

Dalton said his officer immediately notified him of the shooting, but was unsure of the address. He said his first thought was that it was the house at 101 Davis St.

“We have several condemned houses in town and several that are not condemned but the people who lived there have either passed on or living in nursing homes. So we made a list of houses we are checking at night because we had a couple of them get broken into,” the chief said.

“My officer knew where he was at; I didn’t. I assumed he was at the house of the man who was in the nursing home. That is where the misconception came of him being at the wrong address,” Dalton said.

The police chief added that to ensure the investigation would be unbiased and in line with department policy he notified the next largest agency in the county — the New Madrid County Sheriff’s Department — to look into the incident.

“I knew this was going to blow up because this was a dog,” Dalton said. “But I have nothing to hide on this; it was just a bad accident.”

According to the police chief in addition to the Sheriff’s Department’s review of the shooting, the body camera footage was turned over to the Missouri Police Officer Standard Training for review.