Woman wins $520,000 settlement after video of police letting dog attack her goes viral
St. Paul, Minnesota police department has settled a case to pay a woman more than half a million dollars after a police dog attacked her.
On Wednesday the city of St. Paul agreed to settle the case of Desiree Collins who was attacked by a K-9 for $520,000, after she filed a lawsuit against the city and the dog’s handler, the Star Tribune reports.
Collins was simply taking out her trash when a police dog viciously attacked her last year. The brutal attack knocked Collins to the ground, as the dog repeatedly bit her on her arm and leg. Collins, already handicapped, only has one hand, which is the one the dog damaged.
“I didn’t deserve that,” the 52-year-old victim said. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Collins’ attorneys argued that she was traumatized by the savage attack and had to seek counseling to cope.
Collins sued the city of St. Paul as well as the officer responsible for handling the K-9, Officer Thaddeus Schmidt.
In August, U.S. District Judge John Tunheim found that Collins civil rights were violated and the officer was “more than negligent” in handling his dog. The City Council reached a settlement with Collins and her attorneys this week.
Collins’ attorney Andy Noel said about Collins’s reaction to the verdict: “She’s pleased and she’s glad that she can put this lawsuit behind her and move on with life.”
Collins says she now fears dogs after the k-9 attack that caused her to be hospitalized.
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