A federal district court ruled on Monday that the Brentwood Brentwood Police K-9 Officer Ryan Rezentes does not have qualified immunity in the federal civil rights lawsuit resulting from a 2020 incident where his police dog scalped a shoplifting subject, according to a Friday press release.
“This a grotesque case of police abuse,” said civil rights attorney Adante Pointer. “Rezentes stood by and let his dog maul an unarmed young lady without giving any warning or providing her a chance to surrender.
Ms. Bates is lucky she survived such a dangerous and traumatic incident. Police are now on notice that using their canines to exact street justice is unlawful.”
The victim, Talmika Bates, needed more than 200 stitches in her head, surgical tissue rearrangement and laceration repair, according to the press release. She has since been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, mild diffuse traumatic brain injury and mild post-traumatic brain syndrome.
“A reasonable officer would have known in 2020 that it violates the Fourth Amendment to prolong a dog bite after the suspect had done everything in their power to communicate surrender, and to give a physically incapacitated suspect repeated commands to sit up or crawl rather than calling off the dog,” U.S. District Court Judge Rita F. Lin wrote in her Monday decision.
The incident began when officers responded to a call about three people shoplifting at an Ulta Beauty store. Officers chased the suspects, who then allegedly rammed a police car with their vehicle. Bates, who was not driving, hid in the bushes nearby, where the dog found her and bit her head.
Bodycam footage shows Bates screaming to the officer that she would surrender but Rezentes, who was still holding the dog’s leash, tells Bates to come out of the bushes. The dog then dragged her by the head as she called out to her mother, who was not present. Footage shows that the dog tore Bates’ scalp from her skull, that large chunks of flesh were missing and that Bates was bleeding profusely.
“A reasonable jury could find that Rezentes realized by thirty seconds into the bite, at the latest, that the dog was biting Bates’s head, and that a reasonable officer would have acted promptly to call the dog off, rather than wait another 25 to 30 seconds,” Lin said.
The k-9 is trained but its handler is not trained ! We need Gov Kristi Noem to handle this situation. lol
Are you kidding, Paul? If you intentionally ram police cars trying to hurt or kill the officers inside, you get what you deserve.
CYN,
.
The initial call of an “assault on an officer with a deadly weapon” was reversed by the sergeant on scene to an “officer involved in a collision.”
@The Black Knight
I now know that. Besides, I said “if”.
What we need is people who teach their children not to steal. Teachers who teach not indoctrinate. Politicians who recognize their job is to help provide safety and prosperity to the whole community and are not just interested in enriching themselves. Truly free and fair elections for American citizens. An honest media and a better informed and educated populous.
I second that opinion!
Ignore the demented attention seeking troll, and they will go away.
Moral of the story, don’t shoplift or resist a police dog.
Lost qualified immunity He’s going to jail. She’s going to get one hell of a paycheck. Yeah real good all around I guess.
DONOTHAVEONE,
.
This is a civil matter, not criminal, where did you see that the peace officer has been charged, convicted, sentenced, and is going to jail?
Don’t shop lift.
Don’t steal
I wonder if the 50 bucks in makeup is worth the lifetime of disfigurement. Plus the 8 million she will unfortunately probably win.
In another article it’s alleged the group of 3 had stolen 10k in product.
Unfortunately¿? How is a near death dog scalping justice for retail theft¿? She deserves every penny she’s asked for…
There is always at least 1 criminal apologists. Stupid decisions have consequences now she knows right?
How is it not? We need more consistent consequences. This seems like a good start.
Well I bet she won’t shoplift anymore.
No; she won’t have to shoplift anymore. She’ll be living in a mansion and have millions of bucks in the bank. A plastic surgeon will restore her to movie star looks.
Somehow I bet not, people that make dumb decisions don’t stop magically making them just because they won the lottery…
Briefly, maybe…..
She won’t need too she probably is getting a huge settlement from the police department
Don’t bet on it. It’s in her DNA.
photo of “victim” not needed.
I’m reasonable. If I sit on this jury I’d side with the cops given the circumstances. Ram a police car and it’s game on.
She didn’t ram the police car, she was hiding in a bush, unarmed when she was scalped by the dog for an entire minute…
Any link or just off the top of your head?
BDML
TALMIKA BATES, Plaintiff, v. RYAN REZENTES, Defendant.
https://casetext.com/case/bates-v-rezentes
B,
.
She was a passanger in the car at the time of the collision. The car was later driven into a field where she and the other 2-suspects then fled into and hid.
“she was hiding in a bush, unarmed”
And the officer knows she’s unarmed? How? She’s hiding in a bush.
OLD-SCHOOL GUY,
.
She went to court for this matter 2-years ago, there was no jury, the judge found her guilty of resisting arrest and misdemeanor grand theft. The police car wasn’t “rammed,” the initial call of “assault on an officer with a deadly weapon” was reversed by the sergeant on scene to “officer involved collision.” I find it troubling that you’d be willing to serve on a jury with your mind made up, without having all of the facts and hearing all of the evidence.
In actuality, this should happen WAY more often. And we would all be better for it.
OH, PLEASE,
.
We’d be better off if this happened more often because peace officers would lose their qualified immunity, although, he’s likely still indemnified by the City of Brentwood, or because tax payers will have to pay more in taxes to cover indemnification costs and higher insurance premiums?
The dog was tired of the shoplifting, i dont blame it.
Not at all Shocking that Adante Pointer is representing the dirtbag. He is John Burris Jr
This is why Police can not do their job right, if they do they get punished. This is so ridiculous.
He DIDN’T DO IT RIGHT is the point of the whole article! He used a dog without warning on an unarmed female, commanding her to sit up tho she’s bleeding profusely whilst the dog continued ripping her scalp off for a full minute!!
And she wasn’t in the car that rammed the cops cruiser
You keep talking but yet provide no proof. Why should we just take your word for it? Especially since you are defending a criminal…
B,
.
She was a passenger in the car at the time of the collision. The car was then driven into the field where the 3-suspects fled and hid.
He used a dog on a felony criminal who attempted to evade arrest. He used a dog for his safety as he was unsure if she was armed.
If she was not guilty … why did she run and hide? Or is it okay in your books to evade arrest after comitting a felony crime?
YOUR NEIGHBOR THE IMMIGRANT,
.
According to the Courts, one peace officer didn’t do his job right in this situation, which is why he lost his qualified immunity.
Police take an oath; what he did is disgraceful, he is getting what HE deserves.
Guess you could say the same for her
Until you are willing to take a bullet for me, I back the blue. When shots are fired, which way will you run?
OLD-SCHOOL GUY,
.
Peace officers are under no obligation to protect you, according to the Supreme Court. How many school shootings do we have to see where police failed to act?
I bet she isn’t shoplifting anymore. If she didn’t shoplift this would have never happened. Plus running and hiding from the police. She should have just stopped and let the police arrest her.
Must have been a slow day for emergency medical transport vehicles.
.
What about charges for assault on a police officer, assault with a deadly weapon and attempted murder of a police officer, etc.
.
OHMy- Gosh, how silly of me . . . . . . . what was I thinking.
This is criminal coddling CoCo county.
Original G,
.
The peace officer who called in the “assault on an officer with a deadly weapon” was a different peace officer. The sargent on scene reversed the call of “assault on an officer with a deadly weapon” to an “officer involved in a collision.”
.
The peace officer K-9 handler and K-9 were off duty the day this event occurred, but were called by the sargent on scene and asked to join the search for the suspects.
.
The initial call by Ulta Beauty had claimed the three suspects had stolen over $10,000.00 in merchandise, but I’m unsure what the actual value of merchandise stolen actually was?
.
While this peace officer has lost his qualified immunity, there remains a good chance he’ll be indemnified by the City of Brentwood.
.
She pled “no contest” to resisting arrest and misdemeanor grand theft, and was found guilty by the judge.
GOOD OLE KARMA FOR YA, works great
WILDER,
.
Is that “karma” for the peace officer, the injured shoplifter, or both?
Play stupid games, get stupid prizes. No compassion. Get what you deserve.
AMERICAN CITIZEN,
.
Since the article was about the loss of qualified immunity, is it the peace officer, the shoplifter, or both, who got what they deserved?
She shouldn’t have been stealing and hiding. It did say he manually removed his dog. Even if she said she would surrender . How do we know she would? She could have said it and still took off. People need to know and learn twhat they do is wrong. Did she get in trouble for the left and running from the police ?
She’s claiming all sorts of psych damage now.
Any info on how nutso this chick was before the dog bit her?
K9 should’ve broke all her fingers, too.
No warning, HAH.
Those K9’s bark incessantly @ suspects. What color we talking here 🤔 ?
I would like to give that dog a big bone and an atta boy for doing a good job. These criminals think they should be free to go into stores and steal everything and just walk out without any problems. I say shock the dogs on all of them low life scum losers