Chris Lee acknowledges he has used and sold marijuana. But that doesn’t diminish the grief he’s feeling days after Kansas City police raided his home and shot his dog.
Lee said when he opened the front door of his Hyde Park home, both of his black labs emerged onto his front porch with him. (Police say “bolted” out.)
He surrendered immediately and pleaded with officers to not shoot his dogs, Lee, 41, said.
“ ‘You guys win!’ ” Lee said he yelled. “ ‘Please don’t shoot him, please don’t shoot him.’ ”
While Lee contends his dogs never made contact with any of the officers, Sgt. Kari Thompson, a spokeswoman with Kansas City police, said one bit an officer’s leg and tore his pants.
“Due to the dog’s actions, the dog was shot,” she said in an email statement.
Police tactical officers were serving a search warrant on the house in the 800 block of East 44th Street on Wednesday, the day before Lee was charged with multiple counts of drug possession, an illegal weapons charge and other drug felonies.
Thompson said Lee had opened his door, allowing the two dogs to run out and attack the officers and then he quickly closed the door.
Lee said the dogs got out when he came outside to surrender. He contends that, although the dogs were barking, they never attacked the officers.
About a dozen officers arrived at his residence to serve the warrant, Lee said.
Lee said the execution of his black lab, 8-year-old Axl, was excessive.
Police shot Axl at point-blank range, he said.
“I just couldn’t believe it,” Lee added during a tearful interview. “It was like a big, huge swimming pool with a massive plug in it got pulled. Everything drained out at once.”
Axl’s death was over some weed, Lee said. “There was no reason to bring that amount of harshness in,” he said.
His other black lab, Slash, also barked at the officers but was not shot.
Thompson said Slash was biting a dog stick that officers used to keep the dog at bay for the entire time police searched Lee’s house. Officers took off Lee’s handcuffs so he could secure Slash to avoid another deadly incident, she said.
Lee allegedly sold marijuana on three separate occasions to an undercover officer, once in the Northland, once on Troost and once inside of his residence, prosecutors allege.
During the search of Lee’s home, officers recovered a 20-gauge shotgun along with a box of Winchester 20-gauge ammunition near Lee in the front entryway. They also found ammunition elsewhere in the home. Officers confiscated marijuana, Psilocybin mushrooms and THC edibles in various locations throughout the residence, court records stated.
When interviewed by police after his arrest, Lee allegedly told investigators that he owned the shotgun recovered when police executed the search warrant but said the weapon had been in the same location for years and he was not sure if it was even operable. Lee also said he was aware about a prior stealing conviction but did not think it had any bearing on him owning a shotgun.
In 1997, Lee was convicted of felony stealing in Clay County; Lee said he stole a gun collection.
Prosecutors allege he was unlawfully possessing a firearm as a felon.
In his interview with police, Lee denied selling marijuana and said the drugs were for his personal use.
Lee told The Star he had sold marijuana and mushrooms.
Last week, Lee was released from the county jail after posting $10,000 bond on the recent criminal charges.
Purchasing and raising Axl saved him from committing suicide, he said. He originally bought the lab for his daughter’s 10th birthday.
“He (Axl) literally saved me from taking my own life,” Lee said. “He really got me through. ... You don’t want to think of your dog’s death ever, but eventually he’s going to get old and you’ll go to the vet together. You don’t think your dog’s going to go out in a hail of bullets.”
Max Londberg: 816-234-4378, @MaxLondberg
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