Family dog shot by police during dramatic arrest of teenager
A 14-year-old boy and his aunt will face court after a violent arrest that left a police officer with deep bite wounds – and the family dog shot in the head.
Officers from Manning Great Lakes Police District were called to a property in Marjorie Street, Taree on Monday evening over an alleged breach of bail by the teenager, NSW Police said in a statement.
As officers were attempting to arrest him, the scene turned ugly. Police allege the boy's 36-year-old aunt entered the fray with a metal curtain rod, assaulting a male senior constable.
Police responded with pepper spray, but as they were arresting the woman the family dog bit a male police officer.
NSW Police said an attempt to physically remove the dog was unsuccessful, and it was shot in the head by another senior constable.
Miraculously, the dog survived and was taken to a nearby vet where it is receiving treatment.
The vet, Geert Lampen, told Seven News the bullet "missed the brain area by maybe a centimetre".
The officer who was bitten received deep puncture wounds and was taken to hospital.
Acting Superintendent Paul Fuller from Manning Great Lakes Police said "those officers didn't go there with the intent of shooting the dog or becoming involved in a melee".
But the family of the boy claim what happened was "police brutality".
In a Facebook post, the boy's cousin has alleged officers were "pushing him down the stairs, putting him in a head lock, kicking him in the head when he was down, telling him there [sic] gonna treat him like a man, elbowing my mother in the face."
The two senior constables involved in the arrest will face an internal review.
The 14-year-old boy was charged with breach of bail and resisting arrest. He was refused bail to appear at a children’s court on Tuesday.
The 36-year-old woman was charged with assaulting police and resist arrest. She was granted conditional bail and is due to appear before Taree Local Court on August 28.