Crime & Safety

Tense Incident Outside Covington Ends Peacefully, Police Say

Students at Covington were detained from leaving school as police investigated a man outside the school allegedly threatened neighbor's dog on Thursday afternoon.

Students were briefly detained from leaving Covington Elementary School at afternoon dismissal while investigated a man outside the school who had allegedly threatened his neighbor’s dog.

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OLPD Division Chief Michael Kaufmann said officers were sent to the 5300 block of West 87th St. around 3:04 p.m. Thursday, after a neighbor complained that the man had threatened to shoot her dog.

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Kaufmann said the dog had apparently been running loose when the man told his neighbor, “If you don’t get your dog I will shoot it.”

Arriving officers discovered that the man had already left the scene and was en route to Covington School to pick up his child. Police found the man sitting in his car at 52nd Avenue and 92nd Street.

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The neighbor was brought to the scene where she positively identified him, Kaufmann said.

The man gave police a different account of what he had told his neighbor: “If your dog tries to bite me I will shoot it.”

A social worker confirmed the incident to police, but could not hear what was actually being said.

No children were out of school when police confronted the man outside Covington. The stop was done as quickly as possible to ensure it was completed prior to school letting out, Kaufmann said.

“I spoke to the principal of Covington at school who had been confronted by angry parents claiming there were patrol students at the corner between police and [the man],” Kaufmann said in an email. “I told her there definitely was not.”

Kaufmann said that police units had blocked the man’s car and that 92nd Street and 52nd Avenue were also blocked off.

“I explained to the principal both at the scene and in a later phone call that we were unable to notify the school due to time constraints of a rapidly evolving situation,” Kaufmann said.

The neighbor decided not to press charges against the man but wanted the incident documented, Kaufmann said.

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