Police Dog DJ In Court



TWO men sued the NYPD when they were bitten by a police dog.

A justifiable law suit, you might think, except the two men were burglary suspects who were trying to escape, say the police.

The two men, however, against whom burglary charges were later dropped, told a different story. Emmanuel Blake and William Bryant, told a New York court that police had pinned them face-down and had then ordered the German shepherd to "get" them. The German shepherd, called DJ, allegedly did just that and bit the pair.

Bryant, 19, was bitten in the right leg; Blake, 22, in the face, neck and both arms in the incident which happened in Brooklyn in 2004.

Yesterday (July 27, 2007) a Manhattan federal court jury rejected their claim

City lawyer Frances Sand said the city was pleased that jurors "recognized that there was no excessive force, no assault and no battery in this case and that the three officers involved acted properly."

Blake and Bryant plan to appeal, said their lawyer, Andrew Stoll.

He said police were using dogs "to accomplish tasks that could be accomplished in much less harmful ways."
DJ has since retired from police work.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Thank you for the warning, although I did read on. What a dreadful, dreadful man. I sincerly hope he eventually gets banned from ever keeping pets again. Sandy.
Anonymous said…
I've just realised I've left my comment on the wrong story!! It should of course have gone with the one about the horrid South African man.
PL Keenor said…
I'm commenting on this one!

What a cheek taking the police to court, even if these two were innocent. They must have been acting suspiciously to have been stopped.