A California A woman has sued Gulf police for allegedly using excessive force after part of her scalp was torn off by K-9, who tortured her “for several minutes” while a police officer had to physically remove her jaw from her head. and after a robbery at the Ulta cosmetics store.
Talmika Bates, 26, claims she was traumatized by a German shepherd named Marco after he chased her and chewed her scalp during an arrest for shoplifting on February 10, 2020, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday.
Brentwood police officer Ryan Rezentes had to pull the police dog from Bates’ head after he disobeyed orders at least twice, according to reports.
The horrific moment was recorded by police cameras and released by Bates’ lawyers. The footage shows Bates hiding in a field among bushes before police responded to her screams after a K-9 was launched to find her.
After finding her and biting her head, Marco finally releases her and Bates is helped by police to get out of the bushes. Her skull was partially red, as parts of it no longer had a scalp on it, and her hair was also torn off.
“My whole brain is bleeding,” Bates said in shock in the graphic video.
Bates, who was 24 at the time of the incident, was on her mind after she robbed cosmetics worth about $ 10,000 from a beauty shop in Ulta, along with two other women. The suspects fled the scene in a car and fled the car after police chased them and tried to stop them.
The case cites Rezentes and other officers from the incident as responsible for failing to warn Bates that K-9 had been released to find her in the bushes.
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
WARNING GRAPHICS: Marco, a K-9 who tore the scalp of Talmika Bates (pictured), tortured her for “several minutes” after being released by Brentwood police
WARNING GRAPHICS: Footage from the body’s body from the incident shows a police dog tearing off the scalp of Talmika Bates (left and right) after she hid in a bush trying not to be found by police who wanted to arrest her for shoplifting
WARNING GRAPHICS: Bates says he needs re-attachment surgery after K9 incident
Brentwood Police Officer Ryan Resentes is pictured with Marco, the German Shepard, who reportedly refused to listen to commands at least twice before being removed by the Resentes victim.
Patrick Buelna, one of Bates’ two lawyers with Adante Pointiner, told New York Post that the police officers’ only response to her client’s cries for help and medical help was that she “should not have run away.”
“Talmika says she still has nightmares about the dog grinding and chewing her head,” Buelna said.
“She says she had a feeling she was going to die that day and she really didn’t believe she would live to tell her story, but she’s alive and grateful. They had to surgically attach their scalp to their head. She suffers from severe depression and remains traumatized by the crushing.
“Officers Rezentes and Lou shouted at Ms. Bates to stand up, an impossible task as leaves and twigs scraped open wounds on her head,” according to a court document.
“Finally, Officer Lou helped Mrs. Bates to her feet and handcuffed her. Officers reprimanded Ms. Bates for fleeing police as if biting her head by a vicious dog was a legal and appropriate punishment for her crimes.
Bates’ defense also accused Rezentes of concealing details of the incident after he wrote in a police report that no reinforcements had arrived, which Rezentes said made him consider whether to physically remove the dog from Bates or not.
Lawyers said the footage showed another employee assuring Rezentes that he would not shoot the dog while he was chewing on Bates’ scalp.
“Officer Rezentes failed to mention that Marco was out of control,” the trial said.
Bates said she was traumatized by the accident and often suffers from headaches, anxiety and often remembers the moment the dog rubbed her scalp in her sleep.
Bates, along with civil rights lawyer Adante Pointener, said police officers’ only response to her client’s cries for help and medical help was that she “shouldn’t have run away.”
After her arrest, Bates was taken to a local hospital, where surgeons sutured her scalp.
After the incident two years ago, Bates said she often suffers from headaches, anxiety and often remembers the moment when the dog digested her scalp in his sleep.
“My whole brain almost fell out,” Bates said KTVU. “I must be dead right now, not alive, and I’m just grateful.
“I feel ugly,” she added. “I get unhappy, I get depressed. I’m not happy with myself. I don’t even feel cute.
Bates pleaded guilty to aggravated theft last year and spent 120 days in jail, court records show. She is on probation for one year. Its restitution amount has not yet been reset, according to the Contra Costa County Prosecutor’s Office.
Marco, meanwhile, the German Shepherd, who is still on the Brentwood Police’s K-9 Unit page, has been described as intelligent, very social and “I would say hello if you see him outside with Officer Rezentes.”
The Brentwood Police Department has not yet responded to a request for comment from DailyMail.com.
Prior to his arrest, Bates stole about $ 10,000 worth of cosmetics from a Ulta beauty store (pictured).
Stolen cosmetics were found in the victim’s car after her arrest
In 2020, Bates and two other women stole beauty products from a local Ulta store in Brentwood, California