Hennepin County K-9 bit, infected Champlin police officer during pursuit, lawsuit says

A police officer suffered serious bite injuries and lasting health problems after being mauled by a Hennepin County deputy's K-9 last year as they pursued a suspect together, according to a rare excessive-force lawsuit filed this week pitting law enforcement officers against each other.

According to the federal lawsuit, former Champlin police officer Daniel Irish was attacked by a K-9 controlled by Hennepin County Sheriff's Deputy Keith McNamara, who did not warn others that he had released the dog as police tracked a suspect who had led them on a pursuit into Osseo in March 2022.

Irish's lawsuit includes images from both his and McNamara's body cameras showing an open-mouthed K-9 named Thor launch at Irish the moment he opens his squad car door.

Attorneys for Irish say that the location of the incident — a public cemetery near apartments and a special education center for young adults — was important because "any reasonable officer would have known that letting a K-9 off-leash without warning was objectively unreasonable and presented a danger to any number of innocent people."

"This could've been any other innocent person in the area that suffered these same injuries," said Andrew Noel, an attorney representing Irish, in an interview Wednesday. "Our mission here is to prevent anything like this from happening again."

A spokesperson for the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday that the office could not comment on pending litigation. McNamara has been employed by the sheriff's office since 2002, according to county records.

Irish now works for the Brooklyn Park Police Department, Noel said, and still suffers from the effects of C. difficile and other gastrointestinal ailments brought on by antibiotics taken to treat a deep skin infection caused by Thor's attack.

Noel said Irish's decision to file the lawsuit was not an easy one, but that it was brought out of broader public safety concerns.

The lawsuit is the latest action taken by Noel and attorneys at Robins Kaplan LLP to allege misconduct in the deployment of police K-9s. They sued in 2017 over an incident in which a St. Paul police officer lost control of his K-9, who ignored more than 10 commands from police to release a woman who had to be hospitalized after she was knocked to the ground and dragged.

The following year, the city restricted its use of K-9s after a man was attacked by a police dog on the city's East Side. That dog also ignored more than a dozen orders to stop its attack on the victim, who was bitten while leaving for work, after the dog's collar "snapped."

"Police dogs are not the discreet, highly trained obedient animals we're led to believe that they are," Noel said. "This is a situation where once Deputy McNamara let Thor off leash, Thor was going to bite the first human being he encountered."

Under Hennepin County's canine policy, obtained by the Star Tribune, the dogs "should be kept on a leash when in areas that allow access to the public." Exceptions include "specific law enforcement operations for which the canine is trained."

The policy states that a canine shall not be left unattended in any area to which the public may have access. And it outlines guidelines for issuing warning announcements before deploying the dogs.

"Unless it would increase the risk of injury or escape a clearly audible warning announcing that a canine will be used if the suspect does not surrender should be made prior to releasing a canine," the policy reads.

If the handler is not going to issue a warning, the officer "when reasonably practicable should first advise the supervisor of their decision before releasing the canine." Officers must also report reasons for not giving warning.

The civil complaint cites a report from McNamara after the incident stating that he did not give K-9 warnings as they approached the suspect "due to it being very loud with sirens. I tried to air via radio that the K-9 was off leash but I could not get on the air due to high volume of air traffic for this incident."

Irish was unaware there was a K-9 involved "until Thor was on him," according to the complaint.

"I opened my squad door and attempted to give the suspect commands and all of a sudden the Hennepin County K-9 grabbed ahold of my left arm and started to bite. I was attempting to control the K-9 and give the suspect commands the best that I could while I was getting [bitten] in the arm and legs."

Irish's complaint includes still images from his body camera showing Thor attacked him the moment he opened his squad car door. One image shows Thor, mouth agape, entering the frame from the left.

The complaint also shows images from McNamara's body camera that were provided to Irish before the lawsuit was filed. The recording starts "mid-bite" and shows McNamara running from far away "and futilely yelling at Thor as he attacked Irish."

Another image shows Thor seizing Irish by his bare arm and not obeying McNamara's commands to release. McNamara reported grabbing Thor and redirecting him toward the suspect. He said the suspect was then warned to stop moving or the K-9 would be sent. Thor eventually stopped the man by the leg as he tried to continue up a ravine.

Both Irish and the suspect were taken to North Memorial Health Hospital for treatment. Images in the complaint show deep puncture marks to Irish's left arm. He was also bit in the buttocks.

Irish was given a tetanus shot and prescribed Augmentin, an antibiotic. But the antibiotic treatment resulted in an infection of C. difficile, a bacteria that can damage the bowel lining, "which presented many setbacks in Irish's recovery," according to the complaint.

Irish's lawsuit described numerous doctor visits to manage "extensive colitis" and other gastrointestinal concerns, and noted that he has lasting irritable bowel syndrome and takes probiotics daily to relieve symptoms. He has also suffered mental and emotional harm, requiring numerous counseling sessions.

The lawsuit is seeking a jury trial to determine compensatory and punitive damages. Irish also wants a judge to rule that McNamara violated his Fourth Amendment rights to be free from excessive force and seizure via his "objectively unreasonable use and deployment of Thor and by his failure to reasonably warn Irish and others" before unleashing the K-9.