At a Glance
- Court
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
- Case Type
- Civil Lawsuit Filed
- Parties
- Talmika Bates v. Ryan Rezentes
- Jurisdiction
- California
- Date
- 2022-02-22
- Status
- Settled
- Amount
- $967,000
A California woman filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in February 2022 against a Brentwood police officer, alleging he allowed his K-9 to attack her head for more than a minute during an arrest, tearing away portions of her scalp and exposing bone and tissue [1]. The plaintiff, Talmika Bates, filed the complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on Feb. 22, 2022, according to court records [2][3].
The underlying incident occurred in February 2020 in Brentwood, California, where Bates was one of three people suspected of stealing cosmetics from a beauty store. Brentwood police responded around noon on Feb. 10, 2020, to a theft at an Ulta Beauty store; three women, including Bates, were suspected of stealing $10,000 worth of merchandise and fleeing in a vehicle, after which police located the car and began searching for its occupants [1]. According to the lawsuit, Bates was hiding in a bush in a nearby field when Officer Ryan Rezentes ordered a German shepherd named Marco to search the area. Without warning, Rezentes commanded the dog into the bush, and the canine immediately attacked Bates's head [1].
The dog "immediately sunk its teeth into the unarmed woman's head," the complaint alleges. Despite Bates crying in pain, Rezentes "stood by and watched his canine viciously maul the young victim," the lawsuit states. By the end, pieces of Bates's scalp had been torn from her head, "exposing bone and tissue," according to the federal court filing [1]. Bates required more than 200 stitches in her head, tissue rearrangement, and laceration repair, and was subsequently diagnosed with mild diffuse traumatic brain injury, mild post-traumatic brain syndrome, and post-traumatic stress disorder [2]. Surgeons were able to reattach her scalp, the lawsuit states [1].
In January 2022, Bates pleaded no contest to charges of grand theft and resisting a police officer, both misdemeanors, in the shoplifting case, according to court records [1]. The lawsuit, filed under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, asserted a single claim of excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment. U.S. District Court Judge Rita Lin later ruled that ordering a police dog to bite a person does not necessarily constitute excessive force, but that siccing a dog on a person for a prolonged duration does [3]. Court records show that after Bates shouted "Please get your dog, I'm coming out!" the dog continued to hold its bite and pull back her scalp for approximately 40 more seconds, while she continued to scream and plead, and that Rezentes manually released the dog from Bates's head only about one minute after it initially found her [4].
The city of Brentwood ultimately agreed to pay $967,000 to settle the lawsuit alleging excessive force, her attorneys announced [2]. The settlement was reached while the matter was on appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on the issue of qualified immunity for Rezentes [3]. Brentwood Police Chief Timothy Herbert said the city and its insurance providers agreed to settle the case to avoid further litigation and appeal costs [2]. The Brentwood Police Department currently has no active K-9 officers [4]. The Washington Post first reported on the filing of the lawsuit in February 2022 [1].
References
[1] The Washington Post. (2022, February 24). A California woman's lawsuit alleges that police allowed a dog to bite off portions of her scalp. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/02/24/talmika-bates-dog-bite-lawsuit/
[2] CBS News San Francisco. (2024, November 18). Brentwood in East Bay to pay nearly $1M to a woman whose scalp was torn by a police dog. https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/brentwood-paying-1m-to-talmika-bates-after-police-dog-tears-scalp/
[3] Newsweek. (2024, November 16). California Woman Wins Nearly $1M After Scalp Ripped Off by Police Dog. https://www.newsweek.com/california-woman-wins-1-million-scalp-ripped-off-police-dog-1986846
[4] Law & Crime. (2024, November 20). Woman gets $1M settlement after K-9 cop dog ripped off her scalp. https://lawandcrime.com/lawsuit/my-whole-brain-mama-woman-gets-1m-settlement-after-k-9-cop-dog-ripped-off-her-scalp/