The Daytona Beach Police Department (DBPD) is investigating an incident which occurred early this morning (November 15) involving two of its officers.
Officers Michael Bodkin and Saheed Ali responded to the 300 block of Reva Street around 1:45 a.m. after being dispatched to a domestic disturbance. (Investigators later determined that the disturbance was false.)
Officers Bodkin and Ali responded to 315 Reva Street and rang the front door bell in order to speak with the person who reported the disturbance.
They heard dogs barking before the front door opened. As the front door opened, that is when two dogs inside the home ran out of the front door, barking and jumping in an aggressive manner towards the officers.
One of the dogs was an all-white pit-bull type weighing around 30 to 40 pounds. The other is an all-black Rottweiler pit-bull mix weighing around 30 to 40 pounds.
The all-white dog jumped towards Officer Ali, causing both officers to back away from the front door. Officer Ali fell to the ground and suffered minor abrasions to his left forearm while kicking the dog off of him.
The same dog then charged at Officer Bodkin and bit his right forearm and right hand, causing several puncture wounds with his teeth.
Officer Bodkin gave several warnings to the owner to retrieve the dog while backing away from the front door. The owner was not able to retrieve and control the dog.
Officer Bodkin pulled out his firearm and fired multiple times at the dog, with at least two rounds striking the dog. The dog died at the scene.
Both officers were treated by paramedics on scene and then taken to AdventHealth Daytona Beach for further treatment and evaluation. Both have since left the hospital and are on their normal days off from work.
DBPD’s Office of Professional Standards is reviewing the matter, as is normal for these types of incidents.
Officer Ali is scheduled to return to normal duties on Monday (November 18). Officer Bodkin will be on light duty when he returns on Monday.
Officer Bodkin has been with DBPD since January 2018 and is a full-time patrol officer. Officer Ali was hired in July 2019 as a full-time patrol officer and he is currently in his field training phase, with Officer Bodkin serving as his trainer.
Because the matter is being reviewed internally, DBPD will not be releasing any photographs or body camera video of the incident at this time.