NEW LONDON, Conn., Nov. 13 — The police say that when they tried to arrest Jean Church for welfare fraud last January at her apartment in a public housing complex here, she refused to cooperate, flailing her arms and shouting obscenities. So the police dog accompanying the arresting officers was ordered to attack her.
The dog, a German shepherd named Niko, tore into her, leaving a constellation of punctures and tears on her thighs and groin. Seventy-five stitches and 11 months later, Ms. Church, 53, still uses a wheelchair to get around, and she and her son, Matthew Baldoz, have filed an intention to sue the city of New London for police brutality.
The welfare fraud charge was dropped when the police discovered it stemmed from a false complaint. But Ms. Church and her son, who was in the apartment that day and was also arrested, were charged with interfering with the police and are scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 19.
What really happened on the afternoon of Jan. 3 in apartment A-21 of the Thames River Apartments, here in this hardscrabble city in southeastern Connecticut, may never be totally clear. The New London police acknowledge the arrests and the use of the dog to subdue her, but citing the pending litigation, declined further comment. A police report from that day that was obtained by The New York Times reveals a story that shares only the slimmest of similarities with the version Ms. Church and her son tell. The police did not provide the report.
The police said Ms. Church swore at them and attempted to slam shut her apartment door on Jan. 3. Ms. Church denied this, and said she misheard the police. She thought they were charging her with arson, instead of larceny and she stammered to them that she did not start any fire. She said she told the officers, Humberto Morales and Michael Cavanaugh, that she needed to call her two youngest children, both disabled, at school. But she said the police refused to let her and threatened to recommend the children be given to a child welfare agency.
Ms. Church, the mother of 10, is a woman worn down by grinding poverty and poor health. She is overweight, and prone to tears. She was convicted of interfering with the police in Groton in 1991. She said the charge stemmed from a misunderstanding with her husband, a man from whom she is estranged but lives with because, she said, she cannot afford to move elsewhere. After the New London arrest, she was evicted from her apartment.
She said she has always been afraid of dogs. But in his police report, Officer Morales noted that Ms. Church repeatedly resisted the officers' orders, and did not seem the least bit scared by the presence of Niko, who was barking and focusing his complete attention on her.
Ms. Church said she told the officers to remove the dog but instead they advanced with him, backing her into her apartment and a chair. Her son said one of the officers commanded Niko to get her, and the dog attacked.
Ms. Church said she was screaming as he was biting her, and the officers were laughing.
Her son, Mr. Baldoz, a slight, quiet 30-year-old, said he froze for a second or two before telling the officer to call off the dog. He reached for the dog's leash but one of the officers pushed him to the floor, he said.
The police report said that Ms. Church relented, saying, "O.K., O.K., get the dog off of me." Ms. Church then walked unassisted to the police cruiser, refused medical treatment, and threatened to sue the officers, the report said. She and her son were booked at the police station, and she was later transported to a local hospital, where she was treated and released.
Ms. Church said that she has had nightmares since the attack..
Her lawyer, John J. Nazzaro, is asking the court to drop charges against Ms. Church and her son. He plans to sue on their behalf in federal court for false arrest and use of excessive force, and in the case of Ms. Church, assault and battery.
Even if the warrant were valid, what Ms. Church was accused of was not a violent crime, Mr. Nazzaro said. The police could have telephoned her to come down to the station, he said, adding, "Why use a dog?"
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