Police Won't Face Charges For Driving Over Rabid Raccoon

WAMC Northeast Public Radio | By Dave Lucas

Published April 5, 2018 at 2:58 PM EDT

The county prosecutor says upstate New York police officers won't face animal cruelty charges for using their official vehicles to kill a rabid raccoon.

Two videos posted to Facebook last month show two Town of Coeymans Police vehicles running down a raccoon in the Faith Plaza parking lot south of Albany. The videos had over 7 million views and brought an outcry against the officers from animal advocates.

Albany County District Attorney David Soares announced Thursday that using the vehicle wasn't ideal, but it was the only option the officers had. He said they lacked proper equipment to deal with animals and it was too dangerous to shoot the raccoon in a busy shopping plaza.

The Department of Environmental Conservation previously decided no charges were warranted.

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Dave Lucas

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.

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