A California woman has won a nearly \$1 million settlement after a horrifying police dog attack left her with devastating injuries.
Talmika Bates was brutally mauled by a police K-9 in February 2020, when Brentwood Police officers were pursuing her for allegedly shoplifting from an Ulta Beauty store in San Francisco’s East Bay.
After fleeing, Bates hid in a bush — but was soon found by Officer Ryan Rezentes, who unleashed his 85-pound German shepherd,
Marco, to search the area. Without any command to attack, Marco lunged and bit into the back of Bates’s head, violently dragging her out of the bushes.
According to court documents, Bates screamed, “Please get your dog, I’m coming out!” — surrendering to officers
— but the dog wouldn’t let go. Officer Rezentes, now retired, reportedly ignored her pleas and stood by for nearly a minute before finally prying the dog off her himself.
The injuries were catastrophic. Large sections of Bates’s scalp were ripped away, exposing her skull.
She suffered traumatic brain injuries and severe PTSD. Surgeons later had to reattach her scalp using over 200 stitches, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Now, after years of legal battles, Bates has been awarded \$967,000 in a civil settlement.
While U.S. District Judge Rita Lin ruled that police dog bites don’t automatically qualify as excessive force, she emphasized that letting a dog attack someone for an extended time crosses the line.
To avoid further litigation, the City agreed to settle through its insurance providers.
The incident had reached the Ninth Circuit Court on the issue of qualified immunity for Officer Rezentes.
Bates’s attorney, Adante Pointer, didn’t hold back: “K-9s are potentially lethal weapons, and police must be held accountable when they misuse them.
Ms. Bates was nearly killed — and the trauma and scars will stay with her for life.”
In a haunting interview with KTVU back in 2022, Bates recalled: “I really thought I was going to die.
I didn’t think I’d live to tell this story. It’s just traumatizing… it’s just sad.”
