OHIO -- A Lorain man is suing a dog owner, the city of Lorain, the Lorain Police Department and Patrolman Jeff Lacock after a run-in with several loose dogs last year.
Raymond Starks, 37, and his 2-year-old daughter were walking on Reid Avenue to a gas station to put air in his bike tires when a “white ‘boxer’ and/or pit bull” along with two other dogs “attacked, threatened and/or menaced” him and his daughter, according to the lawsuit filed in Lorain County Common Pleas Court.
Starks grabbed his daughter and attempted to use the bicycle as a shield between them and the white dog. The white dog’s owner, Samuel White, also of Lorain, was “negligent, careless and reckless in failing to properly secure his dog,” the lawsuit stated.
At the same time, Lacock was driving his police cruiser down Reid Avenue, according to the lawsuit, and he saw the dogs running around. He and a fellow officer waited for the dog warden to arrive.
When Lacock saw Starks and his daughter, Lacock chased the dogs with his cruiser to “run them over,” but ended up hitting the bicycle, which Starks was still holding, and knocked him down.
All of the defendants caused Starks to suffer severe and continuing pain of body and mind, according to the lawsuit.
No injuries were reported at the time, but Starks said he was going to the hospital to have his arm looked at. Starks is seeking to receive a “sum which will reasonably and adequately compensate him for his injuries and damages.”
[I agree with suing the dog owner, but the police officer was trying to save their lives. If the dog had not been loose in the first place, the police officer would not have had to try to run it down and this guy would not have been knocked down - so it's all the dog owner's fault!]
(Morning Journal - Oct 14, 2011)
