Gainesville Police Dog Sends Woman to Hospital

The Gainesville Police Department (GPD) announced on Sunday that a homeless woman was mistakenly identified as a criminal by a GPD officer and sent to the hospital after receiving fractures in the calf and thumb from a K-9 unit. 

In the early morning of March 23, a GPD K-9 team was led to an enclosed fenced area behind a business on 3100 NW 13th St. After seeing a person behind the fenced-in area the K-9’s handler presumed them to be a domestic violence suspect they were looking for and allegedly gave verbal warnings to the woman. 

The officer reportedly received no response from the woman and allowed the dog to attack her.

The press release states the K-9 handler “quickly realized” the woman was not the domestic violence suspect they were looking for. The press release does not specify the exact amount of time between the start of the incident to its resolution. 

Assistant and soon-to-be interim police chief, Nelson Moya, referred to the incident as “unfortunate, and unforeseen,” however, he occluded accountability in not publicly stating which officer had been handling the K-9. Moya did not regard an investigation before announcing all officers involved had followed GPD policy.

This comes after GPD’s K-9 unit was reinstated following its removal after Terrell Bradley’s maiming from a police dog.