Former Grover Beach officer testifies that dog in deadly mauling was a ‘playful puppy’

A former Grover Beach police officer whose retired police dog mauled two neighbors, killing one, testified in court Monday that the dog had a perfect work record and was a “playful puppy” at home.

“He had never shown anything that suggested he would do this,” said Alex Geiger, who resigned from the department months after the Dec. 13, 2016, attack.

While on-duty, the ex-officer’s since-euthanized Belgian Malinois named Neo got loose and attacked 85-year-old Betty Long and 64-year-old David Fear, Long’s neighbor who came to her aid. Fear died three days later from complications of his severe injuries, which a paramedic testified during trial were the “most horrific” injuries he’s seen on the job.

Geiger, 25, who said he is currently working as a general contractor, faces two felony charges of failing to maintain control over a dangerous animal resulting in injury or death and one felony count of manslaughter. If convicted, he faces nearly four years in state prison, the District Attorney’s Office previously said.

He had been with Grover Beach for about three months after leaving the Police Department in Exeter, where he was a K-9 officer and had trained Neo as his partner. When he arrived in Grover Beach, Geiger unsuccessfully lobbied Police Chief John Peters to start a K-9 unit with another officer.

In testimony presented in court in July, investigators testified that Gieger’s dogs had been a menacing presence in the neighborhood and had gotten out earlier on the day of the fatal attack and chased a mail carrier.

The trial began March 12, and has featured testimony from Long, emergency responders and trauma surgeons, police and animal services officers, as well as Geiger’s past police chiefs and Neo’s trainer.

The defense has so far suggested through witness questioning that Neo attacked Fear because Fear was armed with or used a BB gun or a garden tool that was found in his front yard near the scene of the mauling, triggering the animal’s police training.

Testimony from the Grover Beach chief of police and the director of San Luis Obispo County’s Animal Services also revealed there was a disconnect in the days following the attack as to which agency was in charge of the investigation.

Former officer testifies

Geiger initially took the stand March 29 as one of the defense’s few witnesses. He resumed testimony Monday following a weeklong hiatus in the trial.

On Monday, he testified that he left his job as an officer in the city of Exeter in 2016 because of asthma and the poor air quality in the Central Valley.

He purchased Neo, his trained patrol partner, as a personal pet from Exeter for about $5,200, he said, because Neo could not start working with another handler after bonding and training with Geiger.

“I was informed that I could buy him or he would be euthanized,” Geiger said, adding that he cashed out accrued vacation time to do so.

Despite prosecution assertions otherwise and a house rental agreement in which he wrote that the retired Neo would hopefully be a police dog once again, Geiger testified that by the time of the attack he had long abandoned plans to return Neo to the beat.

Though he and another officer presented Grover Beach Police Chief John Peters with a K-9 unit proposal, he said Peters made it clear the city couldn’t afford one. Instead, Geiger said he learned that the department was looking for a public relations — but not tactically trained — dog, to take to schools and public events.

Geiger testified he was not interested in Neo acting as a PR animal.

Under examination for the defense, Geiger recalled a text message from his roommate the morning of Dec. 13, informing him of a hole in the wooden fence surrounding the dogs’ enclosure. He was on-duty, but returned home to assess the roughly 3-inch gap made in the fence from a fallen board, taking about two to four minutes to do so, he said.

“I didn’t think there would be an issue,” Geiger said on the stand Monday. “The fence was sturdy, and there were no signs of cracks in other boards that would cause alarm.”

Pressed on the temporary fix under cross-examination Tuesday by Deputy District Attorney Stephen Wagner, however, Geiger testified that he simply pulled on it and felt it would keep the dogs in.

“I didn’t do anything because I determined it was secure and a dog couldn’t get through a 3-inch gap,” Geiger said.

The defense ended its examination by showing the jury photographs and videos of Geiger and Neo playing during their bonding period in Exeter.

He described his former partner and pet as a “playful puppy” who would play and cuddle at home — and even get scared off by Geiger’s cat.

“He was like my best friend,” Geiger said.

Asked on Monday and Tuesday about the immediate aftermath of the attack, Geiger testified that he was told to secure the dogs in his backyard. Because he didn’t have his personal keys to open the locked gate, he removed more fence boards, led the dogs back into the yard and secured them in their kennel.

Asked by Benninghoff if he realized what had happened, he replied: “I knew a tragic accident happened.”

Asked by Wagner why he interfered with the fence, presumably knowing it could be evidence, Geiger responded that he didn’t believe a crime had been committed.

Shortly after, an Animal Services officer took custody of Neo, who was to be euthanized.

Geiger testified that he had just two minutes to say goodbye to the dog.

No industry standard

Before Geiger resumed his testimony Monday, Benninghoff called the defense’s expert witness, Ron Cloward, a former Modesto police lieutenant who founded a K-9 training facility in 2012 and serves on the board of the nonprofit Western States Police Canine Association.

In The Tribune’s early coverage of the Grover Beach incident, Cloward was interviewed for insight in K-9 training and standards and said that California could create more uniform requirements for handler training.

On the stand Monday, Cloward said that while the vast majority of police agencies in the eastern U.S. use German shepherds for their K-9 units, Belgian Malinois dogs make up about 40 percent of the breeds used on the West Coast.

Despite the wide use of police K-9s, Cloward testified that there’s no uniform standards in the state or country dictating how to care for and house the animals once they are retired.

“There’s really not an industry standard. It’s really what a particular city or jurisdiction wants,” he said.

He took exception to a previous witness’ claim that Belgian Malinois are “inherently dangerous,” saying that all breeds can bite. Cloward said in his experience, he had never seen a Belgian Malinois exhibit “unwarranted aggressive behavior,” and that they are good for police work.

“These dogs have to be social. If I can’t walk a dog into a classroom of kindergarteners, that’s not the right dog,” he said.

Cloward, who said he retired and cared for three police German shepherds himself, testified that some jurisdictions require officers to kennel retired police dogs when their animals are not with them, or even keep them segregated from other people and animals. He said he disagreed with that policy.

“It becomes anti-social. You want the dog to have interaction with the family,” Cloward said. “They just become family pets — part of the home.”

Defense attorney Benninghoff presented Cloward a photograph of Neo with blood on his coat following the attack, the attorney asked Cloward if one dark spot of blood could have been a BB gun wound, to audible gasps of disbelief from members of the victims’ families in the audience. Cloward said he could not answer.

But Cloward did say a former trained police dog could be provoked to attack if presented with a weapon.

“A dog is going to be provoked into what we call ‘trained aggression,’” Cloward said. “They’re trained to respond a certain way to an attack.”

Asked by Benninghoff why he was testifying for Geiger’s defense free-of-charge, Cloward said he personally didn’t believe Geiger is guilty of a crime, and even offered that news of Geiger’s conviction could have a chilling effect on the police agencies using trained police dogs — his line of business.

“There are times to do things when it’s the right thing to do,” he said. “This would have a huge impact on the K-9 industry as well.”

Wagner objected only twice during Cloward’s testimony and declined to cross-examine him.

In order to prove the charges of failing to maintain control over a dangerous animal, Wagner must prove simple negligence and that Geiger had knowledge of his dog’s propensity for violence. For involuntary manslaughter, he has to prove gross negligence, a higher standard, but not that Geiger was aware the dog was dangerous.

Closing arguments are expected to be heard Thursday morning.

Geiger and the city of Exeter also face a civil lawsuit from Long and Fear’s families, which is ongoing pending the criminal case.

This story was originally published April 9, 2019 at 5:27 PM.