Former Champlin police officer sues Hennepin County deputy for K-9 attack
MINNEAPOLIS -- A former metro police officer is suing a Hennepin County Sheriff's deputy after the deputy's K-9 allegedly attacked him.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court Tuesday on behalf of former Champlin police officer Daniel Irish against Deputy Keith McNarama.
Irish was attempting to apprehend a driver who had fled a traffic stop when the lawsuit says he was attacked by McNamara's K-9, Thor.
Irish claims he suffers from significant gastrointestinal illnesses as a result of antibiotics prescribed to him to treat his wounds.
The lawsuit says McNarama is liable for excessive force under the fourth amendment.
The day of the attack
The incident took place near the North Oaks Manor Apartments and St. Vincent Cemetery off Highway 169 in Osseo around 2:30 p.m. on March 22, 2022. Across the highway is the Osseo Education Center, a school for young adults who receive special education services.
"The locations and circumstances of the events are important because any reasonable officer would have known that letting a K-9 off-leash without warning was objectively unreasonable and presented a danger to any number of innocent people," the lawsuit says.
McNamara arrived on the scene knowing other officers were in the area and saw the suspect running from the scene. It was then, without warning, that he deployed his K-9 to apprehend the suspect.
The lawsuit claims McNamara had ample time to give the suspect a K-9 warning and warn fellow officers that a K-9 was being deployed.
"I did not give K-9 warnings as we got closer to the suspect due to it being very loud with sirens. I tried to air via radio that the K-9 was off-leash but I could not get on the air due to high volume of air traffic for this incident," McNamara said in a report.
Irish says he did not know any peace officer had their K-9 involved in the apprehension efforts until he was attacked by Thor.
"I opened by squad door and attempted to give the suspect commands and all of a sudden the Hennepin County K-9 grabbed ahold of my left arm and started to bite," Irish reported.
Body camera video from both Irish and McNamara shows the moments of Thor's attack.
Footage allegedly shows Thor not obeying McNamara's commands to release Irish.
McNamara got Thor off Irish, and held the K-9 as he gave the suspect a warning. Thor then seized the suspect a short amount of time later.
Upon arrival at the hospital, the primary concern was the numerous puncture wounds of Irish's left forearm, his dominant side.
The hospital gave Irish a tetanus shot and prescribed him Augmentin, an antibiotic used to prevent infection.
Irish's medical problems following the attack
On April 3, Irish reported having pain, difficulty sleeping and redness and irritation around his dog bite wounds in an online visit where he was diagnosed with cellulitis, a deep skin infection. His doctor prescribed him another antibiotic.
Irish's condition continued to worsen and on May 17, he went to the emergency room where he reported having sharp abdominal pain, cramping, nausea and diarrhea.
A CT scan of his abdomen revealed "extensive colitis." Irish was diagnosed with Clostridium difficile, an inflammation of the colon often caused by antibiotics that can damage the lining of the bowel.
For months, Irish continued to visit doctors and specialists regarding his condition which seemed to not be improving as expected. The lawsuit claims Irish was "unable to work with usual frequency in the months that followed the dog attack."
In late July, Irish tested negative for C. difficile despite continuing abdominal discomfort. His doctor noted Irritable Bowel Syndrome after his infection was the likely cause.
The lawsuit says Irish still suffers from IBS and has to take probiotics daily to relieve his symptoms.
Additionally, Irish has suffered from mental and emotional harm as a result of the incident, completing eight counseling sessions between September 2022 and January 2023.
Irish is seeking damages from McNamara in an amount to be determined by a jury.
