Brentwood Police Issue Statement on $1 Million Settlement After K9 Bite

On Friday, the Brentwood Police Department responded to civil litigation after the city agreed to pay nearly $1 million to a woman who sustained a K-9 bite.

The settlement comes after a female and two others stole $10k worth of items from Ulta Beauty at The Streets of Brentwood–a felony retail theft . While fleeing in a vehicle, they struck an officers vehicle and then foot bailed where they hid in bushes in a field.

While in the bushes, the K-9 bit Talmika Bates in the head causing major damage to her scalp.

STATEMENT ON RECENT CIVIL LITIGATION SETTLEMENT

BRENTWOOD, CA – To avoid further litigation and appeal costs, the City, through its insurance providers, agreed to settle a civil lawsuit filed by Ms. Talmika Bates. This settlement was obtained while this matter was on appeal in the Ninth Circuit on the issue of qualified immunity for the involved officer, retired Brentwood Police Department Officer Ryan Rezentes.

This litigation arose out of an active criminal investigation on February 10, 2020, when several female suspects, including Ms. Bates, committed felony retail theft at the Ulta Beauty store in Brentwood, then fled in a vehicle. The vehicle collided with a police patrol vehicle, then was abandoned in a field in Brentwood, while its occupants fled and hid in the nearby neighborhoods.

After significant local resources responded to the scene to search for the three felony suspects, Officer Rezentes’ canine located Ms. Bates in dense shrubbery in a nearby wooded area. She did not obey officers’ instructions to come out, and the officers had no way of knowing whether she was armed. The canine made contact with Ms. Bates, who could not be seen through the thick bushes, and eventually the canine was removed and Ms. Bates was placed in handcuffs and arrested.  The other two suspects were also located and arrested.

Ms. Bates was then transported to a local hospital for medical treatment.

As a result of the canine contact, Ms. Bates suffered wounds to her scalp. Ms. Bates’ injuries were treated at the hospital and she was released from the hospital and taken to jail the same date. As of that date, Ms. Bates had no loss of consciousness and did not show any signs of any brain injury.

Due to this arrest, Ms. Bates, who was already on probation at the time, was eventually convicted of misdemeanor theft and resisting, obstructing and/or delaying a peace officer in violation of Penal Code § 148(a)(1), a misdemeanor, in relation to this incident.

The lone claim by Ms. Bates in this litigation was excessive force per the Fourth Amendment.

In the litigation, the District Court ruled that Officer Rezentes lawfully deployed his canine in this search for the suspects, and that he had a lawful right to use his canine to apprehend Ms. Bates under the Fourth Amendment. The Court also stated there were triable issues of fact with regard to the duration of the bite, so qualified immunity was denied as to that issue. Officer Rezentes appealed the denial of qualified immunity as to the duration, and the case settled while that appeal was pending before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

While the City does not currently have any working canines, in this instance, having a canine at the scene allowed the officers to apprehend a suspect who had fled the scene of a felony crime in a car that collided with a police vehicle and was actively trying to evade arrest.

Chief Timothy Herbert

$10k worth of merchandise stolen

Previous Stories:

• Aug 2022 – Brentwood POA Responds to Media Reports on Civil Lawsuit Against Canine Officer
• Here is our original story from the incident on Feb 10, 2020. Click here

On February 10, 2020 at 1145 hours, officers were dispatched to Ulta Beauty Supply (in the Streets of Brentwood Shopping Center) to investigate a theft. Keilaysha Usher (24 year old female, Oakland) Talmika Bates (24 year old female, Hayward) and Ramiah Armstrong (22 year old female, Richmond) left the store with about $10,000 worth of merchandise and fled in a Nissan Murano toward Lone Tree Way.

A responding Brentwood Police Officer located the vehicle at the intersection of Shady Willow Lane and Lone Tree Way and attempted a traffic enforcement stop. The driver of the Nissan collided with the patrol car and fled. The vehicle was located in a field at the north end of Slatten Ranch Road where the occupants fled on foot into a nearby neighborhood. A perimeter was set up by Brentwood, Antioch and Oakley Police units until all three females were located and taken into custody.