San Diego County has agreed to pay a San Marcos family $225,000 to settle a federal civil-rights lawsuit filed after a sheriff’s deputy shot and killed their pit bull puppy nearly three years ago.

The settlement came after lawyers for Roger Bush, Jason Bush and Pietra McCotter won a pretrial ruling in October. U.S. District Judge M. James Lorenz said the case could go to trial because the deputies, Gerardo Perez and Kevin Price, had violated the constitutional rights of the homeowners by entering the family’s property without a warrant.

The shooting occurred on May 26, 2014, when the deputies responded to a call from a neighbor that the family’s dogs were loose, according to court records. The property address was not given but was described as a rural area of San Marcos. A case summary in the court files says this is what unfolded:

When the deputies arrived, they spoke to the neighbor and then went to the Bush home. The property is surrounded by a chain-link fence with “No Trespassing” and “Beware of Dog” signs prominently visible.


After announcing their presence and shaking the fence, the deputies entered a closed but unlocked front gate and walked down a long driveway to the front of the home. Perez then knocked on a front window and again called out.

At that point, from another side of the house, Roger Bush opened a sliding-glass door, and three pit bull puppies ran outside. One puppy, named Odin, was shot twice and died.

Perez said later the dog was running at him and he feared the puppy would attack him so he fired. However, Roger Bush said the dog was not running at Perez but was running to the side of him, essentially perpendicular to the deputy.

In his October ruling, the judge said the dog had two bullet holes in his side. That is “consistent” with Bush’s version of events, he wrote.


The judge also faulted the deputies for not planning other, non-lethal ways of subduing the animals when they were on clear notice from the neighbor’s complaint and there was a “Beware of Dog” sign.

“This was really an unnecessary shooting,” said Devin Burstein, a lawyer for the family. “These sheriff’s deputies could have done things differently.”

Mike Workman, the county’s communications director, said officials concluded settling the suit was the best course of action.


Twitter: @gregmoran

greg.moran@sduniontribune.com