From [HERE] A Black woman who was mauled by a police dog while being arrested more than four years ago in Brentwood will receive a nearly $1 million settlement from the city, according to her attorneys.
The agreement is a settlement for an excessive force lawsuit filed in connection with the gruesome episode.
At the time, Talmika Bates was wanted in connection with a shoplifting incident at a cosmetics store. Her attorneys said she was surrendering when then-Brentwood police Officer Ryan Rezentes allowed his German shepherd to bite and pull off her scalp.
Police body camera footage of the incident captures Bates screaming that she will surrender, but Rezentes does not release the dog and instead tells her to first come out of the bushes she is hiding in, according to her attorneys.
“By the time Rezentes pulls the dog off, Bates’ scalp is torn from her skull, big pieces of flesh are missing and she is bleeding profusely from the gaping wound,” the attorneys said.
Bates needed more than 200 stitches to repair the damage to her scalp, according to her attorneys. In addition, she has been diagnosed with “mild diffuse traumatic brain injury, mild post-traumatic brain syndrome and post-traumatic stress disorder.”
“We need to recognize that K-9s are dangerous, sometimes lethal, weapons that can cause life-altering damage or kill someone even when an officer is trying to get them to release and relent,” the woman’s attorney, Adanté Pointer, said in a statement.
“Here we saw a trained K-9 handler stand by while his dog mauled an unarmed young lady who was surrendering,” he said. “Using a dog to exact street justice doesn’t make the abuse of someone’s civil rights any better — and we want our police to do better.”
According to the complaint:
On February 10, 2020, at approximately 12:40 p.m., off-duty Brentwood Police Officer Ryan Rezentes and his Czech Republic trained German Sheppard “Marco” responded to a call for service to help locate three suspected shoplifters. Officer Rezentes deployed his police canine, “Marco,” and searched a field near Empire Way in Brentwood, CA.
Officer Rezentes’ was directed to take Marco and search a clump of bushes in the field. Without providing any warning or a reasonable opportunity to come out the bushes, Officer Rezentes commanded Marco to go into the bushes where the German Sheppard located Ms. Bates and immediately sunk its teeth into the unarmed woman’s head. Officer Rezentes ignored Ms. Bates’ chilling screams as he stood by and watched his canine viciously maul the young victim. Finally, the Officer began commanding the canine to “heel” in German. The dog ignored the commands while Ms. Bates continued to scream and beg for her life as the dog continued its attack. Nearly one minute later, Officer Rezentes once again command his dog to heel —yet again, the dog ignored his handler’s commands. Ms. Bates continued to cry out for her mother while pleading with the Officers to make the dog stop.
Officer Rezentes eventually came to the obvious conclusion that he had lost control of his attack animal and inexplicably yelled at Ms. Bates to “do something!” The Officer finally went into the bushes and physically removed the dog’s bite from Ms. Bates’ scalp. After over a minute of being attacked by the rogue animal, Ms. Bates was left laying on the ground mangled and paralyzed with fear.
Officers Rezentes and Lou yelled at Ms. Bates to stand up, an impossible task, as leaves and twigs scraped against her open head wounds. Eventually, Officer Lou helped Ms. Bates to her feet and placed her in handcuffs. The Officers berated Ms. Bates for running from police as if getting her head bit and mauled by a vicious canine was a lawful and appropriate punishment for her crimes.
As she emerged from the bushes, the assembled Officers could see large chunks of Ms. Bates’ scalp were ripped from her head, exposing bone and tissue. 15. In an apparent effort to cover-up this shocking display of police brutality, Officer Rezentes failed to include significant facts from his official police report detailing the encounter. In his report, Officer Rezentes claims that he did not have the benefit of a cover officer which prevented him from physically removing the dog from gnawing on Ms. Bates’ head. However, Brentwood Police Officer Lou’s body worn camera (BWC) proves this is patently false. In fact, the BWC clearly showed that he was standing next to Officer Rezentes with his gun drawn while reassuring Officer Rezentes, “Don't worry, I won’t shoot your dog.” Indeed, Officer Rezentes knowingly omitted the multiple failed attempts to get his canine to release its potentially deadly grip. Officer Rezentes failed to mention that Marco was out of control. 16. Following this tragic event, Ms. Bates was transported to John Muir Medical Center Walnut Creek for emergency medical care. Fortunately, surgeons were able to reattach her scalp however, Ms. Bates continues to suffer from headaches, memory loss and depression as a result of the horrific experience.[MORE]
