The county Board of Supervisors will be asked today to pay $975,000 to seven men who filed civil-rights lawsuits after they were bitten by Sheriff’s Department police dogs.
Each of the men — including one who lives in the Harbor Area — was being sought for some type of crime, including burglary, armed robbery and carjacking, when he was bitten. If the settlement is approved, each will receive payments ranging from $122,000 to $149,000.
The dog-bite incidents occurred from 1989 to 1992, when the Sheriff’s Department carried out a policy of “find and bite” when searching for fleeing suspects.
“If the dog found you, the dog bit you — no ifs, ands or buts,” said Donald W. Cook, the attorney for the plaintiffs. “There were no warnings. If you ran and hid from the police, you got attacked by the dog.”
The dog-bite policy was changed in 1992, after Superior Court Judge James Kolts criticized the practice in a scathing report on county police brutality. Kolts recommended that deputies warn fleeing suspects that they have a dog, and argued that the canines should bark, not bite.
Among the plaintiffs involved in the lawsuits was Wilmington resident Dathan Brown, who was bitten by a sheriff’s dog in 1991 after he fled a burglary scene in Gardena. Brown, who was bitten on the arm and leg, will receive $139,285.
A second plaintiff, Carson resident Terrence Brooks, hid from police following a burglary in Gardena in 1992. Brooks was bitten on his right side as he hid in tumbleweeds.
Brooks was shot and killed in 1994 while taking part in a residential burglary, county officials said.
Under the settlement proposal, his father will receive $121,785 on his behalf.
Another plaintiff, Rudy Becerra, died of a heroin overdose in 1999 while in custody on an unrelated robbery charge.
Under the new policy, both Brooks and Brown would likely have received warnings from deputies about the presence of a dog and might have been forced out of their hiding places with tear gas, according to a county report.
Although he refused to comment on the proposed settlement, Acting Assistant County Counsel Gary Miller informed the board in a letter that a jury trial could have led to a $1.9 million judgment against the county.
“In each of the incidents, the involved deputies followed the accepted policies and practices of the Sheriff’s Department,” Miller wrote. “However . . . a jury could conclude that in all or some of the incidents, they used excessive force.”
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