CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A police officer shot and killed a dog while trying to get a wanted car theft suspect to leave a house in Charlotte, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
It happened around 7 p.m. on Wednesday, when officers said they saw the suspect, who also had multiple felony warrants, outside his home on Sharyn Drive.
The man, 23-year-old Kyle Kollermeier, ran inside his home when officers approached, CMPD said.
As officers spoke with others who were inside the home, a dog "displaying aggressive behavior ran from the home and charged at a Freedom Division officer," CMPD said in a statement on Thursday.
The officer tried to push the dog away "multiple times" before shooting the dog, officials said. The officer was not bitten.
The dog died at the scene.
CMPD’s Animal Care & Control Division responded to the scene. Police said they had received calls about an animal at this address before.
Kollermeier still refused to leave the house, prompting officers to treat him as a "barricaded suspect." Just before 10 p.m., officers entered the house after getting a search warrant, and arrested Kollermeier.
Two other people with active warrants, 19-year-old Natalie Marlow and 25-year-old Terry Hulin, were also arrested at the house.
Kollermeier was charged with felony larceny of motor vehicle, felony flee to elude arrest, misdemeanor larceny, reckless driving, driving with a license revoked, and for resisting/delaying/obstructing.
Marlow was charged with felony larceny of a motor vehicle and Hulin was charged with felony larceny.
CMPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau is investigating the officer, as is custom when an officer fires a gun.