3 Say Police Didn’t Need to Kill Dog : Disputes: Officers arresting a man after a noise complaint say they shot the boxer to prevent it from attacking their own dog and its handler.

A man who was arrested on suspicion of disturbing the peace and resisting arrest earlier this week says that Oxnard police shot and killed his son’s dog without provocation, a charge that is supported by the 12-year-old boy and a neighbor.

However, police who arrested William Reilly on Sunday night said they killed the dog to prevent it from attacking a police dog and its handler.

In an interview Tuesday, Reilly, 35, said the 6-year-old boxer named Duke was never a threat to the police dog or its handler. “The worst thing about him was his fleas,” he said.

Reilly said a police officer shot the dog six times after Reilly asked the officer not to hurt the dog.

Reilly’s story was supported by Kathy Orozco, 30, who said she witnessed the shooting from her front porch.

“I don’t know why they shot him,” she said. “The dog didn’t do anything.”

The incident began about 11:40 p.m. Sunday when police responded to a noise complaint at Reilly’s residence on the 600 block of East Kamala Street. According to a Police Department press release, a police dog and its handler were threatened by the dog when they entered the residence to arrest Reilly.

“The officers were forced to shoot and kill the suspect’s dog to prevent the dog from attacking an officer and his K-9 who were in the area,” the press release said.

The press release did not say how many officers were involved and did not name the officer who shot the dog, and Oxnard officials would not elaborate Tuesday. Michael Fields, 21, who was visiting Reilly at the time, was also arrested on suspicion of disturbing the peace and resisting arrest, the statement said.

Assistant Chief William Cady said it is not unprecedented for police to shoot a dog that threatens to attack a police dog. He said it has happened at least twice in the 10-year history of the department’s K-9 unit, although he could not recall the exact dates.

“It’s not like it happens every week,” he said, adding that such action is taken to protect the police dog.

However, Orozco, Reilly and his son, Michael Reilly, told a different story.

Reilly, a civilian employee at the Port Hueneme naval center, said he was asleep when two officers came to his door on Sunday night and told him they had received a noise complaint from a neighbor.

Reilly said he told the officers that he had been asleep for two hours and was not making any noise. When the officers insisted that he step out of the house, Reilly said he “shut the door and went back to bed.”

A few minutes later, several officers returned and insisted again that Reilly step out of the house, he said. When Reilly refused again, several officers entered the house and arrested him, he said.

As he was being escorted to a police car, Reilly said his son’s dog began to follow him. When he told the officers not to hurt the dog, Reilly said one officer commented: “Oh, you like this dog?” and shot it six times.

“The cop was totally out of line,” he said.

Reilly, who said he is considering filing a lawsuit against the Oxnard police, said he does not know the name of the officer who shot the dog. The police dog and its handler were on the other side of the street when the shooting took place, he said.

Michael Reilly said he was about to keep the dog from following his father when the officer shot the dog. He said the dog did not growl or bark at the officers.

When the officer shot the dog, Orozco said that her boyfriend and another friend began to shout at the officers from her house across the street.

She said the officer kept shooting at the dog even after it was dead. “They just unloaded on the dog,” she said.

Reilly, who was released on Monday pending a court appearance, said he and his son raised the dog from a puppy.

“It was like a baby to us,” he said. “My son has been crying about this for two days.”