Tuesday, November 20, 2001
A woman said she saw police shoot the gobbler three times.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Mayor Hank Angelo wants to know why police officers killed a turkey Monday on a residential street.
Angelo said a Regal Drive woman called him Monday evening, saying she saw a police officer shoot the turkey around 5 p.m.
"I have several questions that I would like answered," Angelo said. "I will be speaking with the police chief later today."
Witnessed shooting: Mary Warren said she was driving on Beal Street when she saw an officer with a shotgun chasing a turkey. "I'm an animal lover, and I don't understand why this had to happen," Warren said.
Beal Street is a residential area off Parkman Road.
"That turkey has been in the neighborhood for months," Warren said. "I saw the turkey around those homes before this happened. The turkey never bothered anyone, but now, three days before Thanksgiving, we have an officer chasing it with a shotgun."
Warren said she saw the officer shoot the turkey three times.
"The turkey was running away -- the turkey was not attacking anyone," Warren said.
Tried to catch it: Police Chief John Mandopoulos said city officers and officers from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources spent several hours Monday trying to catch the wild turkey.
"They tried everything but they couldn't," the chief said. "Officers from ODNR told my officers that a turkey is a wild animal and it could have hurt a child."
ODNR said this morning that it had received complaints that the turkey was harassing people. The agency said wild turkeys periodically show up in residential areas.
The chief said he reviewed the matter and thinks his officers handled it properly. He said they took precautions to make sure no one was injured when the turkey was shot.
A full police report was due out today.
sinkovich@vindy.com