SASKATOON – A case of mistaken identity resulted in physical and emotional injuries for a Saskatoon woman bit by a police dog. The victim of the bite said it was a case of racial profiling.
“My emotions are very high right now. Emotions of fear, frustration, anger,” Sheila Tataquason told reporters outside Saskatoon provincial court Thursday morning.
Tataquason, an indigenous person, spoke before closing arguments in the suit were delivered.
A group called the Saskatoon Coordinating Committee Against Police Violence gathered outside the courthouse to condemn the actions of police and support the plaintiff.
She’s seeking $20,000 in damages in small claims court after she was bit in the early morning hours of Aug. 16, 2013.
The bite wound to her hip came shortly after reports of a robbery with a knife at a gas station near the corner of 20th Street West and Avenue H South.
After an interview with the robbery victim, Const. Joel Lalonde and police dog Diego began tracking a scent down a back lane. The pair found Tataquason and her friend Joshua Desnomie in the backyard of a home in the 300-block of Avenue H.
Neither was involved in the robbery.
READ MORE: K9 Dax retiring from Saskatoon Police Service
Yet they both matched the general description of the robbery suspects: “a female wearing lighter clothing and a male wearing darker clothing,” according to the defendants’ dispute note.
As the dog bit Tataquason, Desnomie tried to pull the animal off her. The plaintiff said Lalonde punched Desnomie in the head – a claim the officer denies.
Tataquason was taken to Royal University Hospital for treatment. She reports having puncture wounds needing stitches, blood loss, bruising and other injuries. She now deals with anxiety resulting from the incident.
The woman spent six hours in police custody without being charged.
Two officers who later attended the scene, Const. Sean Bonynge and Const. Jeffrey Broadbent, are also named in the suit, along with the Saskatoon Board of Police Commissioners.
Anna Singer, the lawyer for the co-defendants, said it’s “horrible” that Tataquason was injured, but Singer said her clients aren’t liable for the dog bite.
Singer referred to the Saskatchewan Police Act of 1990, which states that an officer isn’t responsible “for any loss or damage suffered by any person by reason of anything in good faith done.”
She argued the officers’ actions were reasonable given the circumstances, making them ineligible for a civil suit.
The judge’s decision is expected at a later date.
Calvin To contributed to this story.