A California woman who says a police dog tore open her scalp has filed a lawsuit, claiming that officers used excessive force by allowing a German Shepard to maul her for several minutes despite her pleas for them to call it off.
The complaint filed on Tuesday alleges that Talmika Bates, then 24, froze in fear as a K9 named Marco chewed on her scalp during her Feb. 10, 2020 shoplifting arrest.
Officer Ryan Rezentes of the Brentwood Police Department had to physically remove the dog‘s grip on Bates‘ head after refusing to obey instructions.
The entire incident was captured on a police bodycam. You can hear Bates’ screams in a field among bushes when the k-9 grabbed her by the scalp and started attacking her.
After a few minutes, Marco let go of Bates as chunks of her scalp and hair fell on top of her skull. She was able to climb out of the bushes with help from the officers.
My whole brain is bleeding,” a terrified Bates said in the graphic video.
An attorney for Bates told The Post that officers‘ only response to his client‘s cries for help was that she “shouldn’t have run.”
“Talmika says she still has nightmares of the dog grinding and chewing on her head,” Attorney Patrick Buelna said. “She says that she felt like she was going to die that day and really did not believe she’d live to tell her story but is alive and thankful. She had to have her scalp surgically reattached to her head. She suffers severe depression and remains traumatized from the mauling.”
“My whole brain almost fell out,” Bates said. “I’m supposed to be dead right now, not alive, and I’m just thankful.
She added she feels “ugly” and “no longer cute” because of her physical wounds. “I get miserable and depressed.”
Discover more from Baller Alert
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
