Irving, Texas Police Misconduct Lawyer – A Man Bitten by a Police Dog is Awarded $1.1 Million by a Jury
San Mateo County and a deputy with the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office in California were sued by 64-year-old Richard Earl May Jr., who was bitten by a police dog as he was trying to rescue a cat at a construction site. The incident occurred in January 2015. In June 2017, a federal civil jury awarded the Plaintiff $1.1 million, after finding that the deputies that deployed the dog at the scene used excessive force and acted negligently.
May had allegedly trespassed onto some property in order to rescue the cat of a 73-year-old woman, a friend of his. A security alarm was triggered, and three deputies went to the scene with a highly trained police dog named Riggs. One of the officers was determined to be the one who allegedly deployed Riggs to attack May. Both of May’s legs were injured in the police dog attack.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, the deputies were at the scene in response to an active commercial burglary call. They expected to possibly find two to three suspects at the scene. Police allege that the person they did encounter, May, refused to comply with repeated commands to get on the ground. The K-9 was released to apply non-lethal force and subdue the person allegedly believed to be a burglary suspect.
On the night of the incident, deputies detained and questioned May before he was free to go. He was then treated and released for his injuries. May was never charged with a crime. The cat was rescued.
The Sheriff’s Office continues to back the officers’ actions and expressed disappointment in the jury’s decision.
As with every post on this website, we are only providing information in this post and do not make any allegation or assertion that anyone acted inappropriately or engaged in misconduct.
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