The incident happened in June 2022 and was recorded on an officer's body-worn camera.
Sean Davis said he was asleep in a hammock when he was grabbed by the K-9 and pulled to the ground.
"I was in fear for my life, no question," Davis told the WCPO 9 I-Team. "I've never felt that powerless in my life."
Last month, nearly a year after the incident, Davis filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Covington and K-9 officer Michael Lusardi.
The suit claims Davis' civil rights were violated and that he's a victim of excessive force, negligence, assault and battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Officers were there searching for a different man, according to the Covington police incident report.
According to that report, a woman told police that her violent ex-boyfriend — who had been sentenced to prison for assaulting an officer — was hiding in these woods near her campsite in violation of her protection order.
Acting on that information, officers and a K-9 arrived at the campsite near the Licking Riverand looked for the man. Police body-worn camera video shows the K-9 being allowed to go deeper into the area where the dog grabbed Davis out of his hammock.
"Help, help," Davis yelled on the police video. "Help me."
"Show your hands now, dude," an officer ordered Davis.
Davis said while an officer had him pinned to the ground and under control, the K-9 bit down on him again.
"What did I do wrong?" Davis wailed. "Don't let him get me anymore."
Officers put Davis in handcuffs, stood him up and asked him to identify himself.
"My name is Sean Davis," he said. "Sean Maurice Davis."
According to the police incident report, Davis wasn't the man accused of violating the protection order.
But despite providing officers with his ID, and repeatedly giving his name and social security number, Davis remained in handcuffs.
"Yeah, you're going to jail," one officer told Davis on BWC footage.
The video shows an officer telling Davis to get in his police vehicle.
"Try to scoot your butt straight over so you don't get blood all over the car," the officer told Davis. "Try to keep that arm off the seat."
Davis remained in handcuffs for 37 minutes, according to the BWC footage.
According to the police incident report, Davis was treated and released at a hospital, and wasn't charged.
"The officer drove me right back to where I was actually in the hammock sleeping," Davis said.
"I think they believed Mr. Davis was expendable and what happened was just a mistake," Davis' attorney Anita Washington said.
Washington, an attorney with the law firm Bey & Associates, provided the I-Team with the police body-worn camera video and the incident report.
The police report mentions that Davis was transported to a hospital, but it doesn't reveal that a K-9 bit Davis, or that he was handcuffed and detained.
"Had it not been for the body-worn camera footage, we would not have any idea of the atrocity that occurred there," Washington said.
Covington Police Chief Brian Valenti, City Manager Ken Smith and an attorney representing the City of Covington and Officer Michael Lusardi declined to comment on the lawsuit.
But in a court filing, the city and Lusardi denied the lawsuit's claims — adding that Lusardi was "acting within the course and scope of his employment" and that Davis' "injuries and/or damages were caused solely as a result of his own acts or omissions."
Davis left Covington and moved to Adams County, where he lives on property owned by a local church. It's a place where Davis says he's finding support in his effort to find peace and a renewed commitment to improving his life.
"I can tell you I've learned to appreciate things a lot more," said Davis.""
The entire story can be read mat:
https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/i-team/lawsuit-covington-police-dog-mauled-innocent-man-in-case-of-mistaken-identity-in-2022
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/47049136857587929
FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices.
Lawyer Radha Natarajan;
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
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YET ANOTHER FINAL WORD:
David Hammond, one of Broadwater’s attorneys who sought his exoneration, told the Syracuse Post-Standard, “Sprinkle some junk science onto a faulty identification, and it’s the perfect recipe for a wrongful conviction.”
https://deadline.com/2021/11/alice-sebold-lucky-rape-conviction-overturned-anthony-broadwater-1234880143/
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