It’s not nice to fool Mother Carter.....You may remember from my column last week my concern that Sugar Land P meolice entered a house in Covington Woods like they thought a group of drug kingpins were inside. They found two ounces of marijuana.

On reading the police report later, I discovered that the dog that was killed did not bite the policeman, but merely “brushed” against his leg and left hair on his trousers. Those hairs was later photographed to prove I-don’t-know-what. I was also told, after specifically asking, that the “flash bang” was not an incendiary device like was used in Waco that resulted in the whole compound being burned.

After the story came out, I received this letter from the homeowner:

Dear Bev,

I read your article of September 20 with more than a little interest; you see, I am the owner (and resident) of the house in Covington Woods that was an object of a terrorist attack on September 8th.

I must use the clichČ about the two sides of the coin and tell you, briefly, my side of the story even though admittedly, and thankfully, I was not present at the time of the attack.

It was an attack. Present in the house were Dennis, my S.O. and Christian, my son. There is complete agreement of them as to the sequence of events: There was a loud knocking, a crash, a boom and a shot, all within 5-10 seconds.

I spoke to Captain Cox myself, by telephone, and when I asked him why they broke the door down he said that the protocol dictates knocking and waiting for a decent interval and then forcing entry if no response was forthcoming. They did not follow protocol: the knocking and break-in were nearly simultaneous. Dennis had just gotten to the door (from the back bedroom) when the forced entry knocked him down. The flash gun landed less than a foot from his head with a resultant hemorrhage of the right ear. They dragged him out the door by his hair.

I asked why they had to shoot my dog (Shadow, a 2 1/2 year old yellow lab mix) Captain Cox replied that Shadow charged one of the men; he never mentioned that Shadow actually had hold of the lead officer’s leg. That was an added embellishment. Shadow never left Dennis’ side; he didn’t even have time to bark before he was shot.

The flash gun started a fire which set off my hard-wired smoke detectors so the officer(s) ripped them out; my alarm system to this day does not work. The fire caused considerable damage touching on 4 separate areas; the force of the explosion shattered all my glassware and shelves in the mini-bar and broke the bulb and globe of the foyer ceiling fixture.

It has taken me a long time to assimilate this; I cried for the first time on September 20. I am still stunned. Only the burned areas, blood on the wallpaper and the dangling wires of my fire detectors remind me that it actually happened.

Dennis and Christian are exhibiting sins of PTSD (I am a nurse); they are exhibiting sleeplessness, frequent tearfulness, irritability and short tempers. Our once “normal” routines have been turned upside down.

I am seeking legal counsel but have been cautioned by many to not get my hopes up. The old City Hall thing, you know. The loss of Shadow, (who did not have to be sedated to be treated by the vet!) is irreparable; the damages to my home are not.

Thank you for your time, interest and concern.

Sincerely, Margot B. Allen

If you have been paying attention, you will realize this was a different story than told to me by Capt. Cox of the Sugar Land Police.

And someone else weighs in:

Dear B.K. Carter

As a Sugar Land resident for the past 16 years, I do not miss many of your columns. For the most part I find that you are usually on tract (with my thinking), on most of the controversial issues; I take a diametrically opposed stand to your opinion of the Sugar Land Police Dept. and their handling of the Covington Woods search warrant that resulted in a shot (dead) dog and the arrest of several people - 9/20/06 issue with the lead "flash dancing."

I do believe that your comments indicate that you are in need of more information about your new police department. When our police executes a warrant and feels it is necessary to do it with a SWAT team, their actions follow certain protocols - it is not haphazard at all, and when a dog has hold of your leg and will not let go - shooting it is in order.

Even though only a small amount of ganja was recovered, it was evident that those arrested were violating the law. If a larger amount of drugs had been found, would you still have called the officers "Boneheads."

It would be my suggestion that you enroll in the next class of the Sugar Land citizens Police Academy. There you will be enlightened, and will learn more about the fine police officers of our city, those people who put your safety and protection above all else.

Sincerely, I am,

Stan Begam

Member of Board of Directors