Fall River family plans to sue city after dog loses a leg in police shooting

Fall River is facing a lawsuit two years after a police officer allegedly entered into a home unannounced and shot a pit bull named Honey, according to The Herald News. 

Fall River Officer Connor Levesque entered the wrong residence on  South Main Street in June 2022 and shot his  .40-caliber Smith & Wesson at 11-month-old Honey, according to the newspaper.

As a result of the damage from that bullet, the dog’s left front leg had to be amputated by emergency veterinarians, according to The Herald News. 

Attorney Melissa Hendrie, who is representing Honey’s owners Richardson DeSilva and Linoshka Acevedo, told the paper the suit is less about the fact that the dog was shot but more about how the city handled her client’s attempts to settle the matter. 

Levesque wrote in a police report that he thought he was in a common area in the building when a dog began acting aggressively towards him and coming towards him, according to The Herald News.

However, security footage shows the officer opening the door to the apartment at 2669 S. Main Street without knocking, according to the paper. Honey was seen running out onto the street after being shot.

The officer claimed he was injured during the incident, according to The Herald News. He was not bitten by Honey and surveillance video did not show the officer limping before another officer took him to the hospital, according to the paper. 

Acevedo told The Herald News that Honey’s treatment following this incident cost around $6,000 in veterinary bills that had to be put on credit cards. The city also charged the family $500 to transport the dog. 

The city has offered the couple $10,000, according to the newspaper, which is substantially below the compensation they had asked for. 

Fall River Police Department spokesperson Detective Sgt. Moses Pereira told The Herald News that Levesque is currently a police officer in Swansea.

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