Angie Harmon Sues Instacart and Deliveryman Who Allegedly Killed Dog
Angie Harmon has sued Instacart and grocery deliveryman Christopher Anthoney Reid after Reid allegedly shot and killed her dog Oliver on March 30.
In a lawsuit filed last Friday in Mecklenberg County, North Carolina, Harmon is suing and Reid for trespassing, invasion of privacy, wrongful conversion of personal property (Oliver), negligence/gross negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress, punitive damages.
And she’s suing Instacart for negligent hiring, supervision and retention and negligent misrepresentation.
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She is seeking $25,000 in damages, though the full amount will be determined in court.
The suit alleges that Reid, who delivered groceries under the name “Merle” with a photo depicting an older woman, used a false identity while delivering groceries, with Harmon having “no idea” she was communicating with “a tall and intimidating younger man.”
Harmon who was filling her squirrel feeder for her pet squirrels in her home upstairs, heard what sounded like a gun shot. Concerned for her children’s safety, she rushed outside, seeing her daughters in distress. She noticed that Reid allegedly placed a gun in front of his pants, likely into his pants pocket. She then saw that Oliver had been shot.
The suit states that Reid was “not injured” or “seriously threatened” by the dog and had “ample opportunity” to leave the premises without shooting the dog, which he claims attacked him. It is also claimed that Instacart “had a duty to exercise ordinary and reasonable care in the screening, hiring, training, retention and supervision of its employees” and has “breached such duties.”
In addition to her lawsuit against Instacart and the delivery driver, Harmon spoke about the situation in a People magazine interview published on Wednesday.
Speaking with the publication, Harmon said that she heard a gunshot and heard her daughter Avery scream, “Oh my God. Oh my God. Did you just shoot our dog?!”
When Harmon looked down from her home’s second floor, she saw Oliver lying on the front porch step. “He was just looking up at me,” she said. The German Shepherd and Beagle mix was shot in his back right shoulder, according to Harmon. The gunshot broke his ribs and the bullet went through his lung, bouncing off his stomach, ultimately exiting under his front left paw, she said.
When she ran outside, she saw Reid standing in silence. “We were running, screaming, crying. I remember thinking how weird — like, why isn’t he helping? Why is he just watching us like entertainment?,” Harmon recalled.
Harmon said that Reid told the family, “Yeah, I shot your dog.”
“He just kept saying that over and over and over again. He wasn’t agitated. He wasn’t afraid. He wasn’t mad. He wasn’t sorry. He wasn’t helping us,” said Harmon. “He wasn’t anything. I was like, ‘What are you talking about?'”
Oliver was still alive, so Harmon rushed the dog to an emergency vet. “I just couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t get up, I couldn’t do anything, and I couldn’t help him as much as I kept trying, I kept failing,” she said. “When I went in there, they were doing CPR on him, and they did that for 7 to 13 minutes. And then everything just got really still. There I was watching him covered in his blood.”
The Rizzoli & Isles alum noted that when she returned home from the emergency vet, police questioned Reid for “about 45 minutes” but only spoke with the family for about 10 minutes, then letting Reid go.
“But he didn’t have a mark on him,” she continued. “He didn’t have a scratch; he didn’t have torn jeans. He didn’t have puncture marks. Most importantly, he didn’t ask for help. He says he was attacked multiple times by Ollie and that he had to kick him off. But he didn’t even ask for a Band-Aid or an ambulance.”
She claimed that merely four hours after mortally wounding her dog, Reid delivered groceries to one of her neighbors.
Harmon’s dog was shot and killed by Reid on Easter weekend. She first shared what had transpired in an Instagram post shortly after, writing, “This Easter weekend a man delivering groceries for Instacart shot & killed our precious Oliver. He got out of his car, delivered the food & THEN shot our dog.” She added that because their ring camera was charging inside the house, Reid “knew he wasn’t being recorded.”
At the time, Instacart released a statement, confirming that Reid had been suspended from the grocery delivery platform. “We were deeply saddened and disturbed to hear about this incident,” the statement read. “We have no tolerance for violence of any kind.”
The company shared a further statement with People on Tuesday: “Our hearts continue to be with Ms. Harmon and her family following this disturbing incident. While we cannot comment on pending litigation, we have no tolerance for violence of any kind, and the shopper account has been permanently deactivated from our platform.”
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