Officer who shot chimp testifies

Hartford, Conn. (WTNH) - A Stamford police officer who shot a crazed chimpanzee is pushing to change the state's workers compensation laws after his claim for therapy was denied.

Officer Frank Chiafari says the bloody rampage changed him and caused him to suffer from post-traumatic stress.

"I didn't know what post-traumatic stress was before this. I used to hear about it, I didn't even know if I believed in it. I found out it is definitely a real thing. It changed me," Chiafari said.

When Chiafari arrived at Sandra Herold's Stamford home back in February of 2009, he wasn't prepared for what he saw. Travis the chimp had mauled Herold's friend, Charla Nash and then turned on him.

"I put my life on the line that day. I came this close to getting ripped apart myself. I can't get that out of my head - seeing this face come at me with bloody teeth," Chiafari recounted.

The brutal condition of Nash haunted him.

"I'd be walking in the mall, I'd see people, women without faces. That's how bad it got," he said.

He told lawmakers and reporters later that it was both the horrible condition of the victim and being confronted by the beast the caused his lasting mental anguish.

"This thing was 200 pounds with fangs and blood all over his hands and face after just eating this poor woman. In a frenzy, banging on my car, knocking off the rear view mirror like butter and then coming around. It's the combination, it's definitely the combination of the two that got to me," Chiafari said.

Chiafari shot and killed Travis. But when he filed a worker's compensation claim to help him pay for therapy, it was denied because the violent attacker he shot wasn't human.

Chiafari and his union believe the law needs to be changed so that police are covered if they're confronted and threatened by any dangerous animal, whether a raging bear in someone's back yard or a drug dealer's pitbull in a raid.

"It's a terrible feeling. To think you risk your life and then the city that you're working for is not backing you," said Chiafari.

Chiafari says that rejection, just five days after the incident, probably contributed to his anguish. The city of Stamford eventually did pay for his doctor.

The bill introduced in the General Assembly is S.B. No. 168