Assault charges have been dropped against a man with mental illness who walked naked through a south Minneapolis neighborhood in December, resisted police officers and was bitten by a police dog, when officers tried to arrest him.
Michael Porter, 19, was found to be experiencing acute psychosis when he injured five officers, according to a court document filed by the Hennepin County Attorney's Office.
Porter had entered several houses uninvited in the Page and Diamond Lake neighborhoods and was bitten in the groin by the police dog before officers subdued him with a Taser gun.
Porter's mental disorder prevented him from knowing he did anything criminal, and he would have been found not guilty by reason of mental illness if the case went to trial, prosecutors wrote. There then would have been a mental commitment proceeding, but Porter had been committed in late December. No purpose would be served in pursuing the criminal charges, the document said.
"It was the right thing to do," said his grandfather, the Rev. Joe Roberson of Milwaukee.
Porter is recovering physically, but is still having trouble dealing with the trauma of the incident, Roberson said. He talked to his grandson Thursday morning and said his family is planning to take him home to Milwaukee as soon as possible.
Porter, who moved to Minneapolis in August, had been taking medication to help him cope with his father's death about two years ago.
According to court documents, Porter went through yards and tried to enter homes, at one point removing his robe. Officers tried to ask Porter whether he needed help, then lost sight of him.
More officers, including Bruce Ketzner and his police dog, Zack, arrived to set up a perimeter to find him. Ketzner saw Porter naked in the kitchen of a Park Avenue house and ordered Porter to walk toward him. Porter went to a porch and as Ketzner moved to handcuff him, Porter lunged at the officer and hit him in the head, the documents said.
Zack, the dog, then bit Porter. It appears Ketzner was alone with Porter before Porter hit him, but officer Mark Vandaalen, a member of the department's crisis intervention team, was at the scene within minutes, authorities said.
Four counts of felony assault and gross misdemeanor assault against Porter were dismissed. It's unusual, but not unheard of to dismiss charges in cases where the defendant was clearly psychotic at the time the crime was committed, said Deputy County Attorney Pete Cahill.
No complaints have been filed against the dog, but he is on administrative leave. Department officials have said they are reviewing the case to see whether the officers violated any policies on the use of the canine and Taser and what actions led to the encounter. They will also look at training issues.
Attorney Jill Clark, who represented Porter, said that the officers used an inappropriate level of force, even if what the situation happened exactly as they described it.
"Police knew with a significant amount of time prior to calling for the dog that Porter has symptoms of mental illness," Clark said.
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