Daytona Beach, FL - Officials say a Daytona Beach Police Officer shot and killed a pit bull released by a burglary suspect on Tuesday.
On May 23 a Daytona Beach Police Officer went to 548 Spruce St. at about 11:10 AM after getting a call about a burglary in progress. When the responding officer got on scene they saw a man matching the suspect description. The officer tried to arrest the man, later identified as 47-year-old Darryl A. Gurganious of Daytona Beach, but he resisted and ran towards the back of the house.
The officer chased Gurganious and saw him in the back yard next to a pit bull on a lead. The officer saw that he was trying to unclip the carabiner on a clothesline to release the dog and commanded him to stop. Gurganious didn't listen and released the dog. As the pit bull ran towards the officer he fired 3 shots at the animal, killing it. Gurganious then fled the scene on his bicycle.
Another officer spotted the 47-year-old in a vacant lot on Pine Street, just north of 500 Cannon Street and took him into custody.
Gurganious was taken to DBPD and in an interview said he ran from police because he had a "crack pipe" on him. He also said he didn't remember the dog or any shots being fired. Gurganious admitted that he threw the crack pipe on North St. while he was running away from police officers.
The incident was recorded by body cameras.
According to the DBPD incident report, it was later determined that the initial burglary in progress call was actually "civil in nature."
Gurganious is being charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill, resisting arrest, and destroying evidence. He's being held at the Volusia County Jail without bond.
(Gurganious' mugshot courtesy Volusia County Jail)
Copyright Southern Stone Communications 2017.
