Atascadero man says SLO County deputy confronted him, shot his dog outside family business
A San Luis Obispo County sheriff’s deputy shot an Atascadero man’s dog late Monday night after confronting him on suspicion he was burglarizing his family’s cleaning business, the man said.
Junior Gonzales, whose family owns Fashion Dry Cleaning & Laundry at 7800 El Camino Real, had just returned from a trip out of town before midnight on Monday when the incident occurred.
Gonzales said his 1-1/2-year-old pit bull survived the shooting, but he and his family are traumatized and angry at the Sheriff’s Office.
Gonazales’s wife was also detained and handcuffed by an Atascadero police officer, he said.
Now, they’re considering a lawsuit, and Gonzales’s wife wants to leave town, he said.
“He was on private property with his gun drawn for no apparent reason,” Gonzales said of the deputy.
The Sheriff’s Office on Friday night put out a news release confirming the shooting after being contacted by The Tribune.
“It is always unfortunate when an animal is harmed,” the release says. “The Sheriff’s Office has initiated an investigation into the circumstances of this incident. And it will be followed up with an investigation by the Sheriff’s Office Professional Standards Unit.”
Terrie Banish, Atascadero’s deputy city manager, said the city had no comment.
Deputy thought a burglary was in progress
Gonzales lives with his wife, Alexandria Panos, in a studio apartment on the property and was unloading his vehicle when he walked outside and found a sheriff’s SUV in his driveway.
Gonzales said the deputy had his gun drawn and announced he was with the Sheriff’s Office.
“They assumed somebody was breaking in because of the hour it was,” he said.
The Sheriff’s Office release says two deputies were on patrol in the area when they “observed a business with the front door open and the lights off.”
“There was a vehicle parked in front of the business with the trunk open with a man pushing a laundry cart walking toward the vehicle,” the release says. “The deputies exited their vehicle to investigate.”
Gonzales’s two pit bulls, Roxi and Luna, came outside barking, he said, and Luna ran left while Roxi ran right, toward the deputy.
Gonzales said Roxi was barking but didn’t attack the officer. He said the dogs are “around customers all day, every day” and aren’t aggressive.
With the deputy still holding the gun, Gonzales said his choice was “Do I do something now, or do I get shot?”
The deputy called for Gonzales to retrieve the dog but barely gave him the opportunity before firing three shots and hitting the animal, he said. At least one of the shots also ricocheted off the building behind them, Gonzales said.
“He didn’t even give me the chance to get the dog,” Gonzales said.
The Sheriff’s Office said the deputy shot the dog because he feared it was about to attack him.
After the shooting, Gonzales said he became “irate” and began yelling at the deputy.
“I couldn’t believe what they’d just done,” he said. “What a way to end my day.”
Wife was handcuffed by police
Shortly after the shooting, an Atascadero Police Department unit arrived at the business and began trying to calm Gonzalez down, he said.
Gonzales told the officers that his wife would drive up shortly in a separate vehicle and that he wanted to talk to her.
But when she arrived, Gonzales said, an Atascadero police officer handcuffed her. The couple wasn’t told why she was being detained, and the officers didn’t explain, he said.
Eventually, Atascadero police took the bleeding dog to the vet in their SUV while Gonzales followed behind. Only when the group returned from the clinic did officers ask for Gonzales’s identification, he said.
Gonzales said he was told none of the officers had body cameras, and that only dashboard cameras on their vehicles recorded the incident.
He said he previously had security cameras up on the outside of the store but had removed them recently when he was remodeling the space.
“It’s just a bunch of B.S. because I’ve been here for 12 years, and nothing like this has ever happened,” Gonzales said.
This story was originally published June 19, 2020 at 8:33 PM.
