A man claims three Kennewick police officers and a police dog attacked him, and police admit they had the wrong man. Now Ken Rogers says he is permanently disabled from the injuries he sustained.
Court documents say Rogers was in his son-in-law's back yard in Kennewick when he heard noises believed to be burglars. He says soon after that a police dog was viciously attacking him.
The incident started in July of 2003 with Kennewick Police Sergeant Dopke seeing a man on a pocket bike without a helmet on. He tried to pull the man over but the biker ran into a house on Umatilla Avenue in Kennewick. That man was later found. Three more officers arrived as back up including a K-9 unit.
The dog was roaming free when it entered the yard near Umatilla Avenue where Rogers was sleeping. Court documents say officers Kohn and Bonnalie and a Benton County sheriff’s deputy hit Rogers with their fists, knees and flashlights while the police dog continued to bite the man. Dopke says he suffers from permanent hearing loss and other injuries from the attack.
Officers say they told Rogers to stop fighting the dog and it would stop the attack.
As a punishment, the Sergeant Dopke was told he would be demoted because of this incident and he resigned. Bonnalie was fired in an unrelated case.
Right now the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is deciding whether to go forward with the case or whether the officers have immunity from being sued because they were working as officers.
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