Man in Knife Attack on San Diego Police Dog

A San Diego man was convicted Tuesday of burglarizing an Allied Gardens home and stabbing a police dog, which had cornered the thief inside the house.

Superior Court Judge William H. Kennedy scheduled a Jan. 26 sentencing for Daniel Gerard Gwazda, 26, who faces up to six years and eight months in prison on the felony convictions.

Jurors deliberated nearly a week before convicting Gwazda of the Sept. 15 burglary and stabbing of Gido, a 5-year-old German shepherd, in the back.

The dog, which returned to work three weeks later, received the San Diego Police Department’s first canine citation for bravery for possibly saving an officer from harm by finding the burglar first.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Boles said Gwazda’s conviction on the dog-stabbing count, which Kennedy could reduce to a misdemeanor at sentencing, is among the first in the state under a 1984 law making it a crime to injure a police dog.

“There’s been several similar cases in Los Angeles and maybe elsewhere, but I think all of them have been settled before trial with dismissal of the dog-injury count (in exchange for a guilty plea on another charge),” Boles said.

Defense attorney Stephen Laudig said he will appeal the conviction on the grounds that Kennedy erroneously allowed jurors to learn of Gwazda’s 1979 burglary conviction and wrongfully instructed them on how to determine his intent to injure the animal.

“We think he gave erroneous instructions on self-defense (as a reason for Gwazda stabbing the dog), which will be one of our main points on appeal,” Laudig said.