INDIANAPOLIS (Legal Newsline) - A food delivery man who was bitten after a police officer released a dog to chase a fleeing suspect has no case against the town, an Indiana appeals court ruled, citing broad immunity granted to law enforcement under state law.
Jerry Bewley sued the Town of Speedway after he got caught in the middle of a chase involving two burglary suspects in 2019. Bewley was delivering food to a customer's house when he watched the officers chase a car that crashed into a parked vehicle down the street. The customer invited him into the house for safety. but Bewley declined and stood behind the customer’s car, watching the chase unfold through the car windows.
Two suspects jumped out of the crashed car and one of them sprinted behind the customer’s house. A police car pulled up and the officer released his K-9 patrol dog, which ran directly at Bewley. He jumped on the hood of the customer’s car but the dog bit him on the leg and held him until the officer commanded the dog to release.
A trial court dismissed the case, citing the Indiana Tort Claims Act, which grants immunity to public employees including police officers enforcing the law. Bewley appealed, arguing the Indiana Supreme Court had carved out exceptions to ICTA immunity in cases where officers violated other laws, including reckless driving and use of excessive force. He said the K-9 officer had violated a statute requiring dog owners to control their pets.
No such luck in this case, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled in an Oct. 30 decision. The animal control law contains an exception for governmental entities.
“Officer Turpin deployed the K9 to help him apprehend suspected felons, which may reasonably be understood as a law enforcement duty based on a plain, ordinary, and usual understanding of that phrase,” the court concluded.
Bewley was represented by Waldron Tate Bowen Spandau of Indianapolis.