Take a good look at the adorable 17-month-old little girl you see in the photo above. Does she look dangerous to you? No, of course she doesn’t. But police in Henderson, Nevada, turned a police dog loose on her and she was bitten on her arm repeatedly, as you can see in this picture:
This all began in January of last year. The video of the incident (seen below) has only now reached the light of day because a local newspaper filed a Freedom of Information request. And just before the K9 officer was allowed into the car, a police officer who pulled Arturo Arenas over for allegedly being a suspect in a robbery tells Arenas:
“You’re okay, just relax. They thought that you were involved in a robbery. You don’t look like the person so it’s okay now, okay?”
Yet only minutes later, the video shows the cops letting the dog into the car where it attacked the child as she screamed repeatedly in pain and horror.
Even worse is the fact that no robbery had occurred! There was no reason to detain Mr. Arenas and his daughter. None! Police were responding to a call from a health food store owner who claimed that someone had “threatened” to rob him after getting upset because they could not return some protein powder. The customer left the store without incident.
Henderson Police Chief Patrick Moers had this comment on the matter:
“The dog may have been used too quickly and there could have been additional communication among officers prior use.”
Is he freaking kidding us with that? The dog may have been used too quickly?! Yeah, ya think so?!
The Arenas family was awarded a settlement of $13,000 for the child’s injuries, but Mr. Arenas noted:
“I don’t understand why it happened. I believe they are supposed to be trained for this situation. I practically didn’t see any trained officers. My daughter wakes up many times in the middle of the night scared. She occasionally wakes up crying.”
So to any police officers out there who dare to question why so many Americans are terrified of them and don’t trust them, I offer this incident in Henderson, Nevada, as Exhibits A through Z.
Watch the Police Video
Featured Image Via WSNV-TV
