Glendale Store Becomes False Target Of Public Scorn After Hawthorne Police Kill Rottweiler
GLENDALE (CBSLA.com) — An art supply store in Glendale has mistakenly become the target of public scorn after video of Hawthorne police killing a Rottweiler over the weekend went viral.
The phone lines at Swain's Art Supplies have been tied up with hundreds of threatening and harassing calls since video of the incident was posted on YouTube, said co-owner Lori Wiest.
"It's been horrible. They're nasty. They're accusatory. We have absolutely nothing to do with this. We don't know anything about it more than anybody else does," she said.
Then why are people calling her store?
Apparently, bloggers hastily provided the art store's phone number and address on the YouTube post, believing the information belonged to the officer they thought killed the dog.
The only officer linked to the incident was spokesman Lt. Scott Swain, who was not involved in the shooting and has no affiliation with the art store.
"It spread like wildfire, and the fact that people believe what they read and then they posted our phone number and address on there," said Wiest.
Glendale police told CBS2's Serene Branson that they've been flooded with threatening emails and calls, as well.
"Stop taunting and terrorizing us with these phone calls. We didn't do anything. We're innocent victims of this mess," said Wiest.
Hawthorne police said they are working with officers in Glendale to sort out the misinformation.
