The city of Brentwood will pay nearly $1 million to settle an excessive force lawsuit brought by a woman who said a police officer allowed a K-9 to tear off her scalp.
Attorneys for Talmika Bates announced the settlement Friday.
They said in a statement Bates was arrested in February 2020 for alleged shoplifting from Ulta Beauty in Brentwood. The 24-year-old was hiding in some bushes but already surrendered to police when the dog attacked her, her lawyers said.
“The settlement comes six months after a federal judge stripped Brentwood Police Officer Ryan Rezentes of some of his qualified immunity protection, because the extended amount of time he allowed his German shepherd to bite and pull off Bates’ scalp could be considered by a jury as excessive force,” Oakland-based legal firm Pointer & Buelna said in a statement.
In a statement, Police Chief Timothy Herbert said the dog was used to locate Bates as she hid in dense shrubbery.
“She did not obey officers’ instructions to come out, and the officers had no way of knowing whether she was armed,” Herbert said. “The canine made contact with Ms. Bates, who could not be seen through the thick bushes, and eventually the canine was removed and Ms. Bates was placed in handcuffs and arrested.”
Lawyers said Bates required more than 200 stitches in her head, surgical tissue rearrangement and laceration repair. She’s been diagnosed with mild diffuse traumatic brain injury, mild post-traumatic brain syndrome and post-traumatic stress disorder, they said.
WARNING: The video contains graphic body cam footage that may be disturbing to viewers. (Courtesy Pointer & Buelna via Bay City News)
“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,” said attorney Adante Pointer. “Here we saw a trained K-9 handler stand by while his dog mauled an unarmed young lady who was surrendering. 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.”
Bates’ lawyers said a police bodycam video showed Bates screaming she would surrender and Rezentes ordering Bates to first come out of the bushes. The lawyers said the officer still held the leash while Bates screamed for her mother as she is dragged by the dog, whose jaws are clamped onto her head.
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