Gun-Grabbing Giant Yields to Doggie Diplomacy

Friday, August 31, 2001 - USA

Officer Naimy (left) ponders the virtue of life, while Officer Oliver (right) ponders a tasty grasshopper.
(Photo: Becky Shink / Lansing State Journal)

Pop quiz:

What do you do when there's a 6'-4", 250-pound man causing a disturbance down at the Quality Dairy?

The answer, of course, is C. Call a dog, as we learned Wednesday early morning.  On August 29 at 4:09am, Officer Robert Vargas responded to a complaint of a trespasser at the Quality Dairy located at 6099 S. Martin Luther King Blvd., Lansing.  There he found Jason Edward Smith,  a large, belligerent man who was not too keen on being arrested.

Officer Norm Naimy arrived next to find Smith and Officer Vargas in a struggle.  Naimy reports, "The guy was fighting hard.  I went up to them and tried to assist Officer Vargas to get the subject subdued.  He pulled my gun holster. He kneed me and punched me in the arm."

At that point, Officer Naimy ran back to his patrol car for a furry reinforcement: seven-year-old police pooch "Oliver".

Says Naimy, "As I was going back to the patrol car, I heard Officer Vargas yell, 'He's going for my gun! He's going for my gun!"

As soon as Officer Naimy let Oliver out of the car, the courageous canine charged Smith and clamped his jaws around the man's gun-wielding arm, forcing him to drop the weapon which he had allegedly wrested from Officer Vargas.

But the confrontation continued.  Says Naimy, "He turned around and reached back as hard as he could, grunted and punched the dog in the left part of his neck.  Oliver let go for a brief second—long enough for the bad guy to get away. But Oliver recovered and chased him."

The brawny German Shepherd jumped on Smith's back and brought him down to the ground.  The officers restrained the man and made the arrest.

Afterward, Officer Naimy, who has been Oliver's partner on the force for five years, took Oliver to the Michigan State University Vet Clinic for soreness on the left side of his neck.  Reportedly, Oliver's doing fine.

According to the Lansing State Journal, Jason Edward Smith was charged with one count of attempting to disarm a police officer, which is a felony, two counts of misdemeanor assault and one count of resisting arrest. He was in jail Wednesday evening, with bond set at $10,000.

"The dog saved us,'' Officer Naimy says. "I was going to have to shoot the guy but I didn't because the dog was able to control him."

Police Lieutenant Raymond Hall adds, "Certainly, if the man had disarmed the officer and gained control of the weapon, officers would have been left with no choice but to respond with deadly force."

So it seems even the criminal Smith owes Oliver a debt of gratitude for his life.  ...Although I don't foresee them sharing an ice cream sundae at the Quality Diary any time in the near future.

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