Immigrant to Sue Over an Errant Police Dog Attack

An illegal immigrant plans to file a claim against the city of San Diego after he was mistakenly attacked by a police dog as officers attempted to capture burglary suspects.

Eluterio Juarez, 33, of the Mexican state of Oaxaca, was attacked by the dog early Monday morning as he slept in a Tierrasanta canyon. The dog bit his leg and then dragged Juarez about with its teeth.

Sgt. Don Fasching said the officers, unaware that the hillside was inhabited by a handful of undocumented men, were attempting to pursue burglary suspects who were seen fleeing into the canyon.

Fasching said the officers unleashed the dog rather than search the canyon themselves because of the area’s inaccessibility and concern about whether the suspects were armed.

The officers shouted the requisite warnings--in English--before releasing the trained German shepherd, Fasching said. Juarez, who does not speak English, apparently did not hear the warnings and would not have understood them anyway.

The two intended suspects were wanted in connection with a burglary at a nearby high school. The two suspects got away after the dog attack on Juarez. However, a third suspect was arrested at the school.

The police officers took several minutes to rescue Juarez because he had secluded himself in a remote spot in the rough terrain. They finally pulled the dog off the screaming man.

The officers radioed for an ambulance, and Juarez was taken to Sharp Memorial Hospital, where he received stitches in his leg. He was discharged about 20 hours later with a set of crutches.

The San Diego Police Department has 44 dogs, the largest canine unit of any law-enforcement agency in the western United States, Fasching said.

From July, 1985, to June, 1991, 38 claims involving police-dog bites were filed with the city’s risk-management office, director Cruz Gonzalez said. The city received six claims in fiscal 1990 and paid settlements totaling $30,662 in four cases, Gonzalez said.