By John Dobberstein, Editor
William Roy Golden, the Broken Arrow police officer filmed by a neighbor chasing and pepper spraying a dog in his driveway, has resigned from the force.
The announcement came in the form of a statement from Broken Arrow Police Chief Brandon Berryhill. The department conducted an internal investigation into “alleged on-duty misconduct” by Golden.
The department said Golden resigned “at the culmination of the investigation” and it was accepted.
Police said his decision was made at the conclusion of the internal investigation on the eve of his pre-determination hearing. Pre-determination hearings are required by state law as part of due process and are necessary prior to the administration of employee discipline.
The Wagoner County District Attorney’s Office is continuing its prosecution of Golden and Broken Arrow police said they will continue to cooperate with Wagoner County.
Golden was criminally charged last September in connection with an encounter with a neighbor’s dog last month which saw the animal pepper sprayed and tased by the officer.
Court records show Golden was charged by the Wagoner County District Attorney Jack Thorp with one count of animal cruelty, a felony, and one misdemeanor count of “acts resulting in gross injury/outraging public decency.”
The charges come after the Wagoner County Sheriff’s Office’s criminal investigation into the officer’s actions with a dog outside city limits.
According to court filings, the animal cruelty charge stems from Golden injuring a 50-pound English bulldog belonging to Arianna Ruiz by tasing it 8 times, spraying him with pepper spray and striking him on the head, causing injury.
The “outraging public decency” charge is in connection with Golden allegedly “disturbing the public peace by unholstering a firearm and threatening to shoot” the bulldog.
At the time, a statement from BAPD said the allegations were “serious” and the department was “committed to fully cooperating with the District Attorney’s Office.”
Mp says
What the heck!!!’
Interested Person says
Dogs should be treated kindly if they are not acting aggressively. English bulldogs may look aggressive, but typically are very gentle and tame.
When animals act in an aggressive manner, various actions are appropriate, The actions should be taken in steps – according to each situation – with increasing boldness if the previous step had no positive effect.
The article describes the police officer’s various actions, but not that of the English bulldog. Law enforcement officers take a lot of criticism, sometimes justified but many times not. The former officer is described as having done a number of things to the dog: pepper spraying it, striking it on the head, tazing it 8 times and pulling his holstered firearm and threatening the dog. In total, that takes quite a bit of time. It never mentions why the dog was there that long. Was the dog acting aggressively up until the last action by the officer? Was the animal able to go away, or at what point was it disabled and unable to do so? It would be helpful to know the entire situation.
Bottom line: if it was a bad officer, getting rid of him was absolutely appropriate. But if the actions were ultimately taken because of public pressure, it weakens the security of our entire society.
KarenAnn says
sounds like BAPD and BAFD need an overhaul and some serious conduct training.