Doobie Doo
Veteran
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A woman in St. Paul has filed a lawsuit in federal court against a police officer after his K-9 allegedly attacked her when she was taking out her trash.
According to the lawsuit, the woman, identified as 52-year-old Desiree Collins, was attempting to take out her garbage at 6:30 a.m. on Sept. 23 when the incident occurred.
The lawsuit alleges that the officer, identified as St. Paul Police Officer Thaddeus Schmidt, was negligent while pursuing burglary suspects near Collins’ residence. While keeping his K-9, Gabe, on a 20-foot lead, the officer allegedly searched through the residential neighborhood before the K-9 confronted Collins.
Due to the long lead given to the K-9, it proceeded around the dumpster – where Collins was – alone and out of view of the officer, which is against SPPD K-9 training and procedures.
The K-9 then attacked Collins, biting her lower left leg before clamping onto her right arm and dragging her to the ground. The lawsuit alleges that the attack lasted 30 seconds and the officers had trouble getting the K-9 off of her arm.
Collins needed treatment for her wounds at the hospital, and now remains permanently scarred on her good arm – her left arm was amputated when she was a child – and her left leg.
The lawsuit claims Collins did not hear any warning, and the two warnings the officer gave while pursuing the suspects were irrelevant to her because they were given more than a block away from her residence and several minutes before she walked outside.
According to St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell, Schmidt was suspended for one day after a department-initiated internal affairs investigation into the incident. Schmidt and the K-9 also went through a month-long training that addressed the policy and procedural issues related to the case.
“My heart breaks when I watch this video. What happened to Ms. Collins was a terrible accident that should not have occurred. I am sorry it happened and that she was injured. As a department, we wish we could go back and do things differently. Unfortunately, we can’t,” Axtell said. “What we can do is apologize and take responsibility, offer support and compassion, and learn from the incident so we can continue to work to prevent it from happening to anyone else.”
Axtell says the department is also rolling out training for all patrol officers focused on working effectively with K-9 officers.
Collins is now suing the police officer for monetary damages, as well as changes to the training and policies of the city’s use of K-9s.
‘Terrible Accident’: Woman Attacked By K-9 While Taking Out Garbage
