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| Macedon, NY Police Chief and WayneNET Task Force Commander John P. Colella |
August 27, 2012 1:04 PM ET
On August 15, 2012 Wayne County Sheriff's deputies, along with Macedon, NY Police
broke into 75 year old
Phyllis Loquasto's Plank Road home in the town of Walworth, NY, forced her at gunpoint to lay on her bathroom floor, screamed at her to close her eyes and stay down, then executed her dog "Duke."
Minutes earlier, Loquasto, who has had three strokes and a knee replacement, was on her computer when she heard loud smashing sounds, then saw what she described as several men dressed in black with masks on.
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| Trail of blood on Phyllis Loquasto's stairs after her beloved dog "Duke" was shot and killed by WayneNET Task Force officers. |
Unfortunately, Duke died a slow death. "They shot him with a shotgun in such a manner that he ran around in pain and bled all over the house and suffered a slow, cruel death. There was no reason for this kind of treatment, they killed my dog for no reason. This was the sweetest and most gentle animal anyone could want, I would trust him with a baby."
As you can see in the photo, Duke did indeed suffer, bleeding out throughout the house, leaving a trail of blood in the hallways, stairs, walls and bedrooms, including on the bed where he used to sleep in.
Afterwards, Phyllis Loquasto was taken outside and placed inside a police car for over an hour in the heat.
It was then when officers showed her a search warrant, and it was then that Loquasto realized who these masked men who had just broke into her home, held her at gunpoint, screamed at her and executed her dog were -- police officers.
The 75 year old Loquasto was so afraid, she urinated and defecated on herself.
As a filmmaker, writer and activist exposing police misconduct and corruption, hearing stories of police officers abusing and violating innocent citizens' rights is nothing new.
In fact I receive an average of 20-25 calls weekly from people who either themselves, or a loved one, has been abused, harassed, or assaulted by law enforcement.
But I must admit, to hear of a 75 year old lady having been terrorized in her own home by a bunch of rogue, thugs in uniforms and masks, in a "home invasion-like" style, before executing her dog, left me speechless.
I Called Macedon, NY police and asked to speak to a public information officer. The woman who answered the phone asked me "What's that?" I explained to her it's usually a department official who is in charge of communicating with the press.
She replied "We don't have that."
I then proceeded to tell her about the incident with Duke, and before I could finish, she angrily cut me off and said "I'm sure if a grandmother would have been held down at gunpoint, I would have heard about that."
She then abruptly transferred me to the Chief, with whom I left a message on his voicemail.
About an hour later, I received a call from Macedon, NY Police Chief John P. Colella.
After I thanked him for getting back to me, Chief Colella laughed and said "The media campaign continues."
I asked Chief Colella what he meant by that comment, but he completely ignored my question.
I then asked the Chief exactly what law enforcement agencies were present at the Plank Road residence.
Chief Colella said that a search warrant was executed by the Wayne County Narcotics Enforcement Team (WayneNET) on the residence.
He also said that he is the Task Force Commander.
Chief Colella told me that his task force seized several marijuana plants from the location, which he said belonged to Phyllis Loquasto's grandson.
He explained that the WayneNET team consists of the Wayne County, NY Sheriff's office, Macedon, NY Police, Clyde, NY Police, Lyons, NY Police, Newark, NY, Palmyra, NY Police, Sodus Point, NY Police, Wolcott, NY Police and the Wayne County, NY District Attorney's office.
Chief Colella confirmed that the only person inside the location was 75 year old Phyllis Loquasto.
Having sensed an obvious sense of sarcasm on the Chief's part, with his earlier comment, about the "media campaign continues", as well as what I would describe as the non-chalant, hesitant, and "careful" tone of his voice, not giving many details, I decided to get down to brass tacks with the Chief.
I asked him about police officers holding down a 75 year old grandmother at gunpoint on her bathroom floor, and it was clear that Chief Colella wasn't comfortable answering my question.
But perhaps more interesting, he never denied officers doing this to Loquasto.
Instead, Chief Colella made sure to choose his words very carefully, stating that all he would say is that she (the grandmother) was "held in place" by officers.
Again, when I asked Chief Colella if in fact officers with his WayneNET task force held a 75 year old grandmother at gunpoint on her bathroom floor, Chief Colella replied "I don't care if she is 2 years old or 75 years old."
I think Chief Colella must have realized that his statement would not look good, so he decided to do some 'damage control' by quickly adding "We needed to secure the location and since there was a dangerous animal, we were holding her down for her own safety."
Are you kidding me?
"Dangerous animal?"
"Holding her down for her own safety?"
Duke was her pet!
After a few more minutes of talking with Chief Colella, it became more and more clear that as is common with law enforcement officials, especially in cases of misconduct and abuse, the "cover-up" had already begun, and Chief Colella, along with his WayneNET task force, clearly have their story which they have every intention of sticking to.
Note:
As is usually the case with local news media outlets, no news channel has been interested in doing a story on this incident. It is a known fact that mainstream media is often reluctant to do stories exposing police misconduct, abuse and corruption.
Most people don't realize that mainstream media and news channels, have a very close relationship with law enforcement.
They rely on law enforcement as part of their day to day job. Law enforcement gives news channels press releases, leads on stories, etc. Therefore, news media outlets are very careful in reporting on police misconduct, abuse and corruption because in essence, news channels don't want to "bite the hand that feeds them." So they often choose to "stay away" from reporting negative stories about local law enforcement.
This is exactly the reason I started this blog, and why I am so passionate about my work as a filmmaker, writer and activist exposing police misconduct, abuse and corruption, to expose injustices such as this.
Ron Holdraker, editor and owner of the Times of Wayne County, NY newspaper wrote a piece titled "Why David Vara is Full of Crap", David Vara is my real name, where as "Davy V." is the pseudonym I use as an activist.
In his piece, Ron Holdraker approves of the WayneNET cops abusing a 75 year old grandmother and executing her pet dog Duke.
IF YOU ARE AGAINST COPS EXECUTING INNOCENT PETS, THEN SUPPORT SOMEONE WHO IS DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT!
HELP ME MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
Click the link below.
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/318023/x/223191
Here is the link to Ron Holdraker's piece. http://www.thetimesofwaynecounty.com/opinions/why-david-vara-is-full-of-crap/
Contact Macedon, NY Police Chief John P. Colella and let him know how you feel.
Macedon, NY Police Chief and WayneNET Commander John P. Colella (315) 986-4121
or (315) 986-7436 E-mail: jpcolella@rochester.rr.com
WayneNET Sgt. Roger LaClair (315) 947-9711 / WayneNET Chief Deputy Bob Hetzke (315) 946-9711
UPDATE: Almost a month after this incident, the Rochester, N.Y. Democrat and Chronicle newspaper is doing a story.
Reporter Justin Murphy told me that a friend of his sent him an email with the link to this blog, my original story on this case, and that the editors at the newspaper decided to do a story.
IF YOU ARE AGAINST COPS EXECUTING INNOCENT PETS, THEN SUPPORT SOMEONE WHO IS DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT!
HELP ME MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
Click the link below.
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/318023/x/223191
See my follow up story, click the link
http://davyv.blogspot.com/2012/09/wayne-county-ny-cops-home-invasion.html
