CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. — A man who was bitten by a Chesterfield Police canine, and not charged with any crime, is taking legal action against the officer who released the dog, calling it an unjustified use of force.
The incident happened in October 2022 at the River Forest Apartments, where Derrick Williams was living in his uncle's unit.
"I felt like I was going to die," Williams told CBS 6 about the encounter.
'It's biting me'
According to police records, the ex-girlfriend of Williams' uncle came by the apartment to collect her belongings. The ex had moved out of the apartment shortly before Williams moved in.
Police reports show that the ex saw Williams in a bedroom and called 911 to report an unknown person in the house, which dispatchers logged as a "breaking and entering."
Williams said he also did not know the woman and was sleeping when she arrived.
"I just heard a voice, and I still didn't make out the voice. I didn't get up. I just heard a voice, and a door slam," Williams recalled.
So, Williams said he went back to sleep, only to wake up a short time later to another voice. This time, it was Chesterfield Police Officer Gordon Painter.
Body camera video shows Painter opening the door to the apartment and announcing a command.
"Police canine. Speak to me now. I'll release the dog. Dog finds you, you'll be bit," Painter said.
Painter waited 16 seconds after making the first command and then unleashed the dog into a kitchen, saying, "Find him."
The canine searched around for about seven seconds, and then Painter appeared to call the canine back.
Painter then said "Come out now," and after a total of 26 seconds had gone by since his first announcement, he released the canine again saying, "Find him."
Williams then walked out of a bedroom at the end of a hallway with his hands up and was immediately bitten by the dog.
Williams started screaming and fell to the floor, as Officer Painter advanced toward him with his gun drawn, telling Williams, "Talk to me" and to "get on the ground."
"It's biting me, it's biting me," Williams yelled repeatedly. "For no reason. Oh my God. Oh my God."
Officer Painter was heard saying, "Get off, let go," and then pulled the canine away from Williams.
"It felt like being stabbed," Williams said about the dog bite. "Not only did it bite me, it wouldn't let go."
Williams said EMS took him to a hospital where he was treated for his injuries and then, he didn't hear from Chesterfield Police again.
Police describe 'a sticky situation'
Police reports show that further investigation revealed the apartment lease was in Williams' uncle's ex's name, but the uncle had been paying the bills for over a year and gave a key to Williams to allow him to stay there.
On the day of the incident, before the woman called 911, she reportedly went to the leasing office and told a worker, "My ex-boyfriend moved somebody into my house."
Body camera video captured Chesterfield Police's on-site investigation following the dog bite, as officers began putting the pieces together.
"The female actually spoke to the leasing office and stated she knew her ex-boyfriend was letting someone move in, but she did not portray that to us at all," an investigating officer said during a consultation call with a Commonwealth's Attorney.
Other officers were also heard discussing whether Williams was legally allowed to be in the apartment due to establishing residency.
"We're in a position where, a sticky situation, right? Because we let a dog in. He's been bit by a dog, and he's under the assumption he's allowed to be here, and we act on the information that—" an officer said.
"We were given," another officer said.
According to police records, a prosecutor ultimately advised the investigating officer that they could not charge Williams with a crime but could possibly pursue false summons charges for the ex-girlfriend. However, that never materialized.
After receiving that advice, the officer cleared Williams on the scene.
"You're good to go. You're not detained, in custody, nothing. We're sorry you got bit by a dog," the officer said.
"Charge it to the game. At least I'm alive," Williams responded.
The investigating officer is then heard suggesting the bite should not have happened.
"Can you imagine getting bit by a dog and you shouldn't have?" the officer said to another officer.
Excessive force lawsuit filed
Williams' attorney Phillip Georges has now filed a $2.5 million lawsuit in federal court against Officer Painter alleging a violation of Williams' civil rights.
"There are so many problems with how the police handled themselves in this case," Georges said. "Excessive force was used when no crime was ever committed."
Georges claims police did not vet the information they were given by the complainant and failed to comply with department policy which states physical canine contact can be "a significant use of force and shall be done only in relatively serious situations and where lesser means of force are not available or reasonably practical."
The policy justifies canine use under two circumstances:
- to protect an officer or others from being significantly injured by an individual
- to apprehend an individual who is unlawfully fleeing or making efforts to evade police and is suspected of committing a felony or serious misdemeanor
"There is no right or authority for that officer to have released the canine at all. He could have it on a leash to help him search, but he must maintain control of that animal at all times," Georges said.
But attorneys for Chesterfield County are seeking dismissal of the suit.
They argue Painter gave five warnings and loud directives before the bite, and that despite the presence of police and the dog, Williams "never identified his location, never announced his intent to surrender, and never physically showed an intent to surrender until the very second" the canine "located him."
Mark Bong, an attorney with experience representing police officers against criminal charges, is not involved in this case, which is a federal civil matter, but he reviewed the body camera video of the incident.
"The police officer used good verbal commands, repeated himself, was in communication with the unknown person who was in the house in terms of putting out a lot of verbal information," Bong said.
He added that officers' actions are generally influenced by dispatcher information which could lead to the reasonable suspicion of a threat.
"This is a case where the police used a dog to bite a subject and they lacked probable cause for an arrest, and the courts over the years in Virginia have looked at this situation several times, and surprisingly, the canine officer is on fairly firm ground for the use of a dog in this way," Bong said.
"Why do you say surprisingly?" reporter Tyler Layne asked.
"I think because it raises some eyebrows anytime a dog is used to bite someone, but then an arrest doesn't follow," Bong said.
The complaint also cites other claims of excessive force against Officer Painter, including a settled case involving a 2019 traffic stop in which video shows Painter punching a driver and an active case involving the deadly 2023 shooting of Charles Byers.
Records CBS 6 obtained show Painter's unleashed canine also bit a woman earlier in 2022 while she was walking along a nature trail with her dog near the police academy. The woman's lawyers sent a demand letter to Chesterfield County alleging Painter "failed to maintain control of his dangerous animal." The county sent a $100,000 check to the woman's lawyers.
CBS 6 asked Chesterfield Police what actions it took in response to any of these incidents.
Citing pending litigation, a spokesperson declined to comment.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
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