Man who was mauled by Sacramento sheriff deputy’s police dog gets $755,000 settlement
Sacramento County has agreed to pay $755,000 to a man who was attacked by a Sheriff’s Office police dog while riding his bike, court documents show.
The county did not admit liability in the incident, during which Salvador Garcia Jr. said his arm was severely injured by a sheriff’s canine in 2022 near the Cyprus Village Apartment Complex on Marconi Avenue near Watt Avenue in Arden Arcade. County spokesperson Kim Nava confirmed the amount of the settlement and said it was approved by the Board of Supervisors.
In a 2023 lawsuit filed in federal court in Sacramento against the county, former Sheriff Scott Jones and the deputies involved, Garcia said he was riding his bike near the apartment complex when Deputy Dylan Black ordered him to stop.
“You’re going to get bit by my dog, homie,” said Black, who had received a complaint that Garcia had broken a window in his ex-girlfriend’s home, the complaint alleged.
Garcia turned his bike to stop but fell off and landed in the grass, he said in the complaint. Black released the dog and used a command in Dutch that means “bite,” signaling the canine to attack, Garcia said in the complaint.
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The dog, named Roscoe, damaged Garcia’s arm badly enough to require reconstructive surgery and a hospital stay, the complaint said. Black tried to handcuff Garcia even as the dog continued to chew on his arm, and deputies on scene did not render aid in a timely way, the complaint said.
The complaint noted that a Sheriff’s Office investigation of the incident said that Black had acted within the scope of the law. It also noted that the Sheriff’s Office had received a complaint earlier in the day alleging that Garcia had broken a window at the residence of his ex-girlfriend.
A settlement was reached in the case in late December, according to a copy of the document provided to The Sacramento Bee by the office of Mark Merin, Garcia’s attorney. After the agreement was approved, the case was dismissed in January, court records show.
