Last Thursday and Friday we discussed summer safety for your dog. In both posts I made sure to tell you never to leave your dog in your vehicle on a hot summer day. You know the standard cars become ovens speech. Seems I would have done better to have given that lecture to police officers in Sterling Virginia. On May 31 they arrested Stu Grimes. Grimes had been out at a party the night before and in the small hours of the morning stopped at a diner to have breakfast. But Grimes partying caught up with him and he reportedly fell asleep at the table. Diner staff called the police and Grimes was arrested for being drunk in public.
Stu Grimes dog Rex died when police refused to return to the scene of Grimes arrest and let the dog out of his parked car.
Grimes however was not traveling alone at the time of his arrest. His dog was waiting in the car for his master to return. Only Grimes did not return because he had been arrested. Grimes claims that he begged and pleaded with arresting officers to go and get his dog out of his car. His pleas were ignored, and when he was finally released from custody his worst fears were realized. His dog Rex, who had been locked all day in his car, was dead on the floor in the back seat. The temperature outside had reached 100 degrees that day, the conditions in the car were unsurvivable.
Grimes is understandably heartbroken, his beloved pet is gone. My biggest question is this, who should be held responsible for Rex’s death? According to Grimes he told police many time there was a dog in his car. The panic alarm was reportedly set off during Grimes arrest, yet arresting officers claim they did not know Grimes had a vehicle. Grimes claims he begged so vehemently for officers to save his dog that they teased him and laughed at him but no one bothered to check out his story. Did these officers let an innocent dog die for spite?
Now it could be easily said that Grimes should not of taken his dog with him when he went partying, but there is no law against visiting friends with your dog, and last time I checked it wasn’t illegal to take your dog with you wherever you went. What disturbs me most about this story is simply the fact that grown men allowed an animal to die a slow and horrible death because they did not do their job. They saw a human being whom they felt was drunk in public and decided to dismiss anything he said as unimportant. What if Grimes had left his human baby in the car? Would police have taken action then?
If what Grimes is claiming is the truth then Sterling Virginia police knowingly allowed an animal to suffer a slow lingering death, I am pretty sure that isn’t protocol. Will these officers be called to account for their actions? That remains to be seen, one thing however, seems abundantly clear to me, police in Sterling Virginia seriously need some sensitivity training, they also need to learn to take action when an animal’s life is at stake. Rex may have been “just a dog” to these officers, but he was a living breathing being until they locked up his best friend and left him to die alone not understanding why no one came for him.
The officers involved should be charged with animal cruelty, and Grimes should sue the city for everything they are worth! Unfortunately for Rex, any action taken against the arresting officers in the case will have come too late to save him.
Until Tomorrow Remember
BE THE CHANGE YOU SEEK!
Janette
23 Comments to “Sterling Virginia Police Allow Dog to Die in Hot Car”
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carrie says:
outstanding thank u for writing this
SHERRY PRINCE says:
DONT YOU THINK THIS IS DISCUSTING..i DO
Janette Hamilton says:
Of course we do Sherry. It is pathetic that law enforcement can get away with things like this with no recourse. Those officers should be charged with animal cruelty at the least!
Dianne McGonigle says:
This is an outrage, I read this story yesterday and signed the petition “Justice for Rex” and I even “Politely” (which was very hard for me to do) filled out the on line “Questions/Concerns form” at Loudoun County Sheriff’s department’s web page. It is unbelievable how some of the very people who have sworn to serve and protect our communities can be so heartless and cruel when it comes to man’s best friend. You are absolutely right!!!! What if it was a child in that car? This just makes my blood boil every time I think about it. I can’t imagine the suffering this poor dog went thru as the temperatures rose to 130 degrees in that vehicle. grrrrr
Janette Hamilton says:
It is heartbreaking to think of him dying alone and thinking he had been abandoned by his human. This is not something that should have happened but it says a lot about how the police treat those in their custody.
BPD says:
As usual, go with one side of the story and publish it as gospel.
Janette Hamilton says:
And you have the other side I suppose? So enlighten us then!
llain says:
The other side is that this guy drove around and partied with a dog in the car, then drove while DRUNK with his dog in the car. His immature actions got him arrested. I wouldnt have trusted this piece of trash either and im sad he was allowed to own Rex. Rip rex. I agree if prudent the cops shoulda atleast called animal control regarding the dog. Pretend the dog is your dog, would you have wanted this assclown taking care of him?
llain says:
Also the cops didnt show up to harass someone and kill their dog. They were called there because of his actions in the establishment. An arrest is a heinous amount of paperwork and takes time no cop i know arrests anyone for fun or torture. This man deserved to be arrested and does not deserve to own an animal.
Janette Hamilton says:
That doesn’t make it okay for them to allow an animal to die in a hot vehicle. I don’t care what the dog’s owner may or may not have done, the fact remains that these cops are responsible for the death of an animal.
Janette Hamilton says:
Whether I agree with Grimes, ownership or actions, that is not the point here. The point here is an innocent animal died a horrible death because of a few cops who did not want to take time to check out the words of an accused. Whether Grimes partyed all night with his dog in the car or not the dog was reportedly alive when Grimes was arrested and cops should have checked out the car and removed the dog.
Rae says:
Excellent, I’ll play devil’s advocate.
How bad off was Stu? Drunk people and tired people tend to mumble. They also lie to cops (or sound like they’re lying) and not recall things correctly. WHEN did he start asking for Rex? If Stu had wrecked his car (either by being asleep or drunk) and killed himself, Rex, and possibly other living beings would you be so horrified? Oh and what if Rex had been ‘less than cuddly’ to people who he saw take his owner? Perhaps the police called Animal Control to pick up the dog,?
Yes, someone dropped the ball and a animal died. It is horrible. Until I hear from the other side of the story, I’m holding off on absolute condemnation.
Janette Hamilton says:
When a life may be at stake is it ever really smart to ignore and assume that someone is crying wolf? No matter what this man’s level of inebriation may have been that is no excuse for what happened.
outdoors says:
I think the police officers should be suspended w/out pay and demotted or flat out terminated.
Gary Abeid says:
I have been a fulltime law enforcement officer for 26 years. There certainly is another side to the story. However, the fact that and intoxicated man fell asleep at a diner in and of itself does not make him a “piece of trash”. I obviously do not condone OVI, but the man ended up at a place to eat. He must have been a caring pet owner with a pretty good relationship with his dog to have his dog hanging out with him. When on the other side of the coin the dog could be owned by someone that kept him tied up in the rear yard for days, weeks at a time with no interaction. Bottom line… it would have taken a matter of a few minutes to have another beat car dispatched to the location of the vehicle in question and to have an officer simply look through the damn window for a dog. If there was a dog in the vehicle. . . handle it! If not, so what, a drunk guy lied to you, go back in service.
Janette Hamilton says:
Thank you Gary! That is precisely my point! Obviously the world needs more law enforcement officers who think the way you do!
Dianne McGonigle says:
As I mentiioned in my above post, I “politely” filled out the on line “Questions/Concerns form” at Loudoun County Sheriff’s department’s web page. This is the reply I received today.
—————————- Original Message —————————-
Subject: Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office Response to Citizen’s Comments
From: “DEPT-SHERIFF-CITIZEN_COMMENTS”
Date: Wed, June 8, 2011 2:46 pm
To: “DEPT-SHERIFF-CITIZEN_COMMENTS”
————————————————————————–
We have received numerous e-mails, telephone calls and other correspondence regarding this tragic incident from around the country. Please be assured that the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office takes these allegations very seriously.
At this time the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office is conducting an internal and criminal investigation to determine the facts of the allegation.
Back on May 31, 2011 two Loudoun Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a restaurant in the 46800 block of Cedar Lake Plaza at approximately 5:08 a.m. for a report of an intoxicated subject who was seated and asleep at a table. The responding deputies attempted to converse with the subject, later identified as a 24-year-old Herndon, Virginia man. After receiving little or no response the deputy asked the subject to stand up. He refused multiple times and became combative and verbally abusive towards the deputies. At this time the deputies attempted to take the subject into custody. A brief struggle ensued inside the restaurant and the subject continued to resist verbal commands to place his hands behind his back. He was eventually taken into custody. Deputies asked the subject multiple times how he arrived at the restaurant. His answers were nonsensical. He was taken to the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center where he met with a Loudoun Magistrate and continued to be combative. Upon being booked into the Adult Detention Center for drunk in public and obstruction of justice (resisting arrest), he remained uncooperative and refused initially to make any phone calls. Later in the afternoon, the subject met with the Magistrate again and was held on a $2500 bond. He was released later that same evening.
We have determined at this point in the investigation that the arrestee did have a vehicle parked across the parking lot of the Cedar Lake Plaza. It is not agency policy nor does the agency have the legal authority to impound or search a vehicle in a case of this nature.
Due to his combative nature, once he was secured by Sheriff’s Deputies, he was immediately taken to the Loudoun Adult Detention Center. At this time our records and subsequent interviews show no indication that the arrestee mentioned a vehicle or a dog in his vehicle to the arresting deputies, the corrections staff at the Adult Detention Center, the Magistrate or independent witnesses.
We wish we were made aware that a dog was in the vehicle. We wish the arrestee had afforded the agency the opportunity to find the dog by telling us he had his pet inside his vehicle. Unfortunately this does not appear to be the case.
Loudoun Sheriff’s Deputies often respond to animals left in vehicles throughout the year. Our deputies have the authority to enter the vehicle, by force if necessary, to assist any animal that is believed to be in danger. We wish we had been afforded that opportunity on this day.
Janette Hamilton says:
Thank you Dianne for sharing this with us. Looks like your classic he said/he said to me. Cops say Grimes never told them the dog was in his car, Grimes says he told them repeatedly, the truth more than likely lies somewhere in the middle as it usually does. Fact is this, a dog died needlessly and this incident needs investigation, but it does not seem it will receive any.
Pablo says:
Here’s coverage from the local newspaper, “Leesburg Today”:
Posted: Tuesday, June 7, 2011 6:59 pm | Updated: 7:02 pm, Tue Jun 7, 2011.
It is not clear who, if anyone, will be held responsible for the dog that died from the heat after being trapped in a car outside the IHOP restaurant in Sterling for more than 12 hours late last month.
What is known is that deputies were called to scene just after 5 a.m. Tuesday, May 31, by IHOP employees, and Stuart “Stu” Grimes, 24, was arrested after falling asleep in the Sterling restaurant after attending a party in the area. He was charged with being drunk in public, and later obstruction of justice, and held in the county jail until the evening hours.
His four-year-old Labrador/Boxer mix Rex was still in his SUV outside the restaurant.
When Grimes, who is from Herndon, was released from jail, according to various reports from friends and concerned citizens, he rushed Rex to an emergency veterinarian, but it was too late. Weather reports put the temperature in Sterling that day at 94 degrees.
Grimes said he repeatedly asked the deputies who arrested him, and then those at the Adult Detention Center to rescue Rex-even to the point of begging-but he was ignored. The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office says they had no idea there was a dog in Grimes’ car.
Speaking about the incident to county supervisors Tuesday, Sheriff Stephen O. Simpson said everyone in the department is wishing there had been a different outcome.
“We wish we had known there was a dog in the car,” he said. “Had we known there was a dog in the vehicle it would have been addressed I assure you.”
Simpson noted that his agency fields many calls during the hot summer months about dogs left in cars with the windows up, or only slightly cracked, and his deputies come upon them in their patrols as well. In those cases, deputies are authorized to break the window of a car to free the animal inside.
But in Grimes’ case, Simpson said, deputies could not even get him to tell them who he was or how he got to the IHOP, and there was no mention of the dog. Simpson said Grimes was drunk when arrested, combative and deputies had to use physical restraint to get him to the Adult Detention Center. When asked, Simpson said Grimes responded that he had arrived at the IHOP in a “spaceship” and later by “magic dust.”
It was his actions at the time of his arrest that led to the charge of resisting arrest. Around 4 p.m., Grimes posted bond and made a phone call to have a friend pick him up, Simpson told supervisors.
He told supervisors that the sheriff’s office internal affairs investigators talked with employees at IHOP, deputies and guards at the jail and no one said they heard Grimes mention a dog in his car.
“They’re all horrified by this and wish they could have done something,” he said. “There was nothing that was ever said to anyone about that. Nothing was ever said that would have led us to believe there was an animal in distress anywhere.”
Supervisor Stevens Miller (D-Dulles) asked Simpson about claims made by Grimes that the deputy used the electronic key found in his pocket to locate his car in the IHOP parking lot.
Simpson acknowledged that the deputy used the key, but only to see if his car was in the parking lot, since Grimes had claimed he arrived by spaceship. Simpson said the car was located about 70 feet away from the deputy at the time. Grimes has said it was right in front of them.
Miller then asked what many have been inquiring of the sheriff’s office in e-mails and phone calls: if the deputy saw the car, why did he not go look in it?
Simpson said the vehicle was not part of the incident for which Grimes was being arrested, and equated it to someone arrested for fighting at a bar or shoplifting at the mall. In those cases, deputies do not search for vehicles belonging to the arrestee. He pointed out that because the car was not involved in the incident it is illegal for deputies to search it. It also is not agency policy to have cars of arrestee towed from a parking lot or private area. Cars are towed only if they are in the public right of way.
The sheriff’s office is continuing its investigation, but when pressed by Miller about what else there is to investigate, Simpson acknowledged there was little, short of another witness stepping forward.
In addition to the sheriff’s office investigation, the Department of Animal Services is conducting its own investigation into the incident. That investigation began after the agency received a complaint about Rex’s death. If a complaint is lodged, the agency by state law must investigate.
kevin says:
Man…I hate cops as much as anyone…but i cant imagine the cops teasing and laughing at Grimes about his dog. Thats just evil…I really hope that drunker just forgot….
Either way, very sad…
Victoria Clark says:
As I am sitting here reading this horrible story I am apauled, and crying. I am an animal activest. The cops should have LOOKED inside of the car, and listened to Grimes.
They should be proscucuted to the full length of the law. I would be if it were me!!
I just picture the Dog frying in that dang car until his death. I hope they can’t rest at night because of ther stupity. They need to be FIRED, Fined and go to Jail for a long time. This story is not overyet. Many will be apauled.
I WANT TO KNOW WHERE IS Rex’s body! He deserves a proper buriel. All spiritual beings go to Heaven. Aminals are all best friends if they are treated with respest, just like people.I think these COPS are EVIL to be laughing at Mr. Grimes. Haven’t they made mistakes in ther lives ( I will bet they have)I have been at police balls before and seen that they are having to much fun also, many years ago.
I hope they get to read All the posts and think about what they did.
Very Upset patron’V. C.
that is my email
selketskiss says:
When police officers as a unit feel there is some trouble coming their way after police officers screw up they all stick together and they all lie to protect themselves, esp if it is something they can easily get away with. I was married to a policeman for many years and heard all I ever need to know about what they do. If one stops and reads what they said, he said…”Simpson acknowledged that the deputy used the key, but only to see if his car was in the parking lot, since Grimes had claimed he arrived by spaceship. Simpson said the car was located about 70 feet away from the deputy at the time. Grimes has said it was right in front of them.”Now people come on when some says they arrived by spaceship 9 out of 10 ten times police will search your car as they will be looking to see if you have drugs, smoked a doobie and they had used his key to see where his car was. My 28 yr old son has his car searched for his music being to loud.. Searches are one of their favorite things to do as it usually turns up good for them.. I believe he might of said something in the car ride, being fingrprinted or did mention his dog sometime. I believe he did beg and plead later after his nap but it fell on deaf ears. Police do not care about you, if you are being arrested you are now put in a different category in their minds. My husband had to quit after several yrs he said the mentality had changed it had become “us” against everyone else…. The minute you get arrested you now are labeled scum and this is how they like to treat you unless you are in the inner circle…just saying…I am sure there are good police officers out there….getting ready to retire…
doubting thomas says:
I do think that every person that is arrested for a public drunk or drug charge should have their car checked for other occupants, whether human or animal. I’m saying checked, not searched. Drunks & drug users are not reliable, their thinking is skewed, and too many times they are too impaired to be considered responsible. If they are arrested I find it the responsibility of the arresting officer(s) to be sure there is no one else in their vehicle – whether human or animal. I do not believe Mr Grimes’ tale. I find it so far in left field that everyone he saw after his arrest did nothing to help his dog – the arresting officer, intake personnel, jail guards, jail nurse, the magistrate who according to records he saw twice (the 1st time he was too drunk), the IHOP personnel – and he made no phone calls until around 4 p.m. when he called for bail and a friend to come get him. Also, this was not his first drunk arrest; actually he was arrested & lost his license to drive for 1 year last June. That means he was actually driving drunk without a license during this incident. And it has been claimed that he made allegations during last years incident that were unfounded and dropped. I am completely onboard with Justice for Rex but cannot support Mr. Grimes in any way. Not only did he put his own life in jeopardy but anyone else that happened to be on the roads the morning this incident occurred. Sadly, a tortureous, painful death did occur that day, a dog, Rex – an innocent, voiceless animal that depended on Mr Grimes for his safety & well-being.