Trainer for slain Wadesboro Police K-9 Blitz countersues former police chief after being accused of defamation

Yahoo

20 hours ago

WASDESBORO, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — The dog trainer for the Wadesboro Police K-9 killed in April is making counter-claims toward the department after being accused of making defamatory statements towards the interim chief.
Joshua Harrington is the Rowan County-based trainer who provided K-9 Blitz in early 2025 to the Wadesboro Police Department at no cost. In court documents, he says Blitz was trained for narcotics and suspect tracking, but was not certified in the apprehension or biting of suspects and should never be deployed in those circumstances, claiming serious injuries would occur.
Harrington's June 11 lawsuit claims that, despite knowing what that led to Blitz's killing, then-Interim Police Chief Jason Eschert and Town of Wadesboro Police Department 'took no efforts to take accountability for their mismanagement of the situation and/or negligence that led to K-9 Blitz's death.'
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On April, Blitz was allegedly fatally shot by a Wadesboro officer after a police chase into Montgomery County. Harrigton's suit describes statements made by trainer Kayla Wright and another officer on scene that Blitz had secured the suspect by the leg. After being recalled by Wright, the suspect was holding Blitz around the nose, which led to Wright securing the dog, which eventually released the suspect in favor of a toy. During this, Blitz then bit his handler's hand while trying to get the toy.
Documents say Wright asked for assistance to remove Blitz and for a sergeant to apply a 'choke-off' technique where the dog eventually released Wright. Wright told her fellow officers that Blitz was not a threat to any of them nor that it was being aggressive. But as Blitz returned to Wright in what is described as a non-aggressive manner, multiple shots were fired, striking Blitz.
Harrington says Wright's requests for assistance were ignored, and Blitz died from its injuries.
The police department has held that that Blitz was killed by its handler.
The suit says that the next day, Harrington met with Eschert to be debriefed on the incident. Eschert allegedly told the trainer that Blitz was turned on Wright and was behaving aggressively.
The police chief told Harrington 'that due to the extreme aggressiveness of Blitz, the officers on scene had no choice but to kill Blitz.'
Court documents say Officer Cody Teague corroborated Wright's account of what occurred at the scene.
The countersuit accuses Eschert of making several false statements about Harrington and Blitz. This includes that Blitz had a history of being aggressive and had been refused by the Virginia State Police because of this; Harrington had improperly trained Blitz; and Blitz could actually be used to apprehend suspects, and Harrington held paperwork that certified this.
Harrington also says Eschert, the town of Wadesboro and the police department worked to censor him. The suit claims Eschert made multiple fake social media accounts and 'reported' Harrington's own posts related to the incident for allegedly violating their respective community standards practices.
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Eschert's suit on April 10 that requests $425,000 in damages, claims Harrington initiated a 'smear campaign' against him, the entire department and other law enforcement officers. Beginning on April 2, Eschert says Harrington made defamatory statements on his Facebook page that accused Blitz of 'being shot and killed by his own allies,' 'the rogue agency lied to me,' Eschert lied to him about what happened and that 'it was untrue that Blitz was Tased.'
Eschert's suit says Harrington later targeted the chief's past, making accusations about his tenure at the Oakboro Police Department.
Eschert, who had been named interim police chief just two months before the K-9 death, retired May 9 amid controversary surrounding the investigation. He notified town officials that people were allegedly making violent threats against him.
Harrington's counter points to the New York Times v. Sullivan Supreme Court case that sets a precedent for defamation. The case says that a public official may not recoup damages if the statements were made without 'actual malice.'
The document states that in addition being protected by the truth: 'No statement made and published (Harrington) was made with knowledge that it was false, or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not. To the contrary, all statements made and published by (Harrington) were his opinion, the absolute truth, privileged, fair reporting and commentary, and lacked actual malice.'
No charges were brought related to Blitz's death, and the two officers involved have since resigned.
In addition to the counterclaims, Harrington also requested a change of venue for the case, to Stanley County. It claims if proceedings took place in Anson County that it would prevent a 'fair and just determination of the matter.'
The new suit says Harrington and his company Train Play Live has trained thousands of dogs over his career and has nationally recognized relationships with law enforcement partners across the United States.
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