A federal judge for the fourth time has swept aside Pierce County’s efforts to dismiss a lawsuit from a woman who claims she was mauled by a police dog after deputies talked about “teaching her a lesson.”
U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle issued a sharply worded order last week saying Jenni Ellis’ lawsuit against the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department and K-9-handler Deputy Levi Redding should proceed to trial. The judge refused to dismiss Ellis’ allegations of illegal seizure, excessive force and negligence, saying a jury should decide questions about the deputy’s credibility and actions.
Among those questions: Whether Redding acted in good faith and if he and other deputies planned to use a “police canine for an improper purpose.”
Ellis, now 39, suffered a dog bite that tore flesh and muscle from her upper left arm when Redding allegedly allowed K-9 Zepp to bite and help drag her from beneath a trailer where she had been hiding in a neighbor’s yard, according to court documents and exhibits considered by Settle.