Appellate court rejects officer’s suit against deputy over K9 attack
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A federal appeals court on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit by a Twin Cities police officer who sued a Hennepin County sheriff’s deputy over a K9 attack.
Officer Daniel Irish — who worked for the Champlin Police Department at the time — and Deputy Keith McNamara were chasing a man who'd fled a traffic stop in March 2022.
The driver crashed his vehicle along Highway 169 in Osseo then scaled a fence and ran into St. Vincent’s Cemetery. McNamara released his K9 Thor, which initially attacked officer Irish instead of the suspect. The deputy soon redirected the dog, which caught the suspect.
Irish, who has since joined the Brooklyn Park Police Department, suffered bite wounds to his arm and complications from antibiotic treatment that resulted in a C. difficile infection and colitis.
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During appellate arguments in March, Irish’s attorney Andy Noel said that his client was unaware that McNamara had released the dog. Noel argued that Irish was the victim of an unconstitutional seizure in violation of the Fourth Amendment.
“This was not lawful action by Deputy McNamara from the moment that dog got its paws on the ground,” Noel told the three-judge panel at a hearing in St. Paul.
In a court filing last year, Assistant Hennepin County Attorneys Jamil Masroujeh and Sarah McLaren wrote that during the incident Irish “was given an audible warning of Thor’s deployment” over the radio and that McNamara subsequently pointed out Thor to Irish in a “visual warning” as the officer drove his squad car into the cemetery. Seconds later, Thor bit Irish’s arm as the officer exited his vehicle.
At the hearing, McLaren argued against Irish’s claim of an illegal seizure.
“There’s no dispute that neither officer Irish nor any reasonable officer in his position would have thought that this was anything other than that the dog had been misdirected,” said McLaren. “He knew who they were trying to get."
The judges ultimately sided with McNamara, ruling that there was no constitutional violation because the deputy did not intend for Thor to attack Irish specifically.
“Because Officer Irish has not plausibly pleaded any facts suggesting that Deputy McNamara subjectively intended to seize him, Deputy McNamara is ‘entitled to qualified immunity on the face of the complaint,’” Judge Jonathan Kobes wrote, quoting from a prior Eighth Circuit decision, in concurrence with Judges Duane Benton and Ralph Erickson.
A Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson wrote in an email to MPR News that the agency is satisfied with the court’s decision but declined further comment.
In a phone interview with MPR News on Friday, Noel said that he’s exploring other options for continuing the litigation.
“Officer Irish did a great job of police work that day,” Noel said. “He helped apprehend the suspect and did an admirable job. He’s disappointed with the court’s ruling.”