‘It was crying.’ Officer seen punching K-9 in face under investigation, CA cops say

Working at his Northern California flooring warehouse Monday afternoon, Roberto Palomino heard a strange sound outside.

He went to investigate and spotted a police officer pinning down a dog in a nearby Vacaville Fire Department parking lot.

“That’s when I saw the officer constantly beating the dog, over and over,” Palomino said, KTVU reported. “I saw at least 10 punches to the dog.”

“It was crying like it was in pain, crying like someone ran over it or something,” Palomino told The Reporter.

“It was bad,” he said, KGO reported.

Palomino began filming the incident. In a video posted to Facebook, the officer can be seen sitting on the dog and striking it once, apparently in the face.

Following an outcry over the video, the incident will be investigated, Capt. Matt Lydon of the Vacaville Police Department told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Lydon said the officer, an 11-year veteran of the department but new to K-9 duties, had been training the dog for narcotics searches, KGO reported. Neither are currently on active duty.

When the dog succeeded, the officer gave it a toy as a reward but the K-9 refused to return it when ordered, Lydon told the Chronicle. The officer took back the toy and the K-9 tried to bite him.

“It’s important in K-9 training that the handler take swift action to correct the dog’s behavior,” Lydon said, KTVU reported. The officer pinned the dog to assert dominance.

“In that situation, that’s a position of dominance where the dog is put on its back, and the canine handler takes that position, and that’s a submission position to let the dog know that the handler is in charge,” Lydon told the Chronicle.

Lydon declined to comment on whether it was appropriate for the handler to strike the dog, KGO reported.

“We don’t know what the handler experienced,” Lydon said, according to The Reporter. He said the officer’s explanation for his actions will be part of the investigation.

In an update posted to the department’s Facebook page, police say the dog has been removed from the handler’s care and placed with a third party outside the agency during the investigation.

The post says the K-9 was examined by a vet and showed “no sign of injury or distress.”

Also, outside trainers will be consulted as part of the investigation, the post says.

“I hope he doesn’t get to treat the dog like that anymore,” Palomino said, KTVU reported. “ I hope he doesn’t get to treat people like that either.”

His video had received more than 500 comments and had been shared more than 300 times on Facebook as of Wednesday.

“What a disgusting HEARTLESS evil disgrace,” read one comment. Several posters called for the officer to be fired.

But a few defended the officer.

”Shepherds are not lap dogs and can be quite willful due to their intelligence,” reads another comment. “A citizen can question authority, a K9 can not. They must be immediately perfect.”