A federal lawsuit has been filed against three Harris County Constable officers after they allegedly prolonged a police dog attack against a man who was unarmed and laying on the ground with his arms outstretched.
The lawsuit alleges the three officers — Sgt. Robert Johnson, Sgt. Wayne Schultz and Deputy Eric Bruss of the Harris County Precinct One Constable’s Office — violated Kerry Lee Thomas' constitutional rights by using excessive and unreasonable force on the night of Feb. 22, 2021.
“The lawsuit is really about seeking accountability for a sickening act of police violence,” said Shirley LaVarco, an attorney with Civil Rights Corps.
According to the lawsuit, the officers were responding to a report of two men making noise outside of a home. After arriving, body-camera video shows Johnson repeatedly yelling commands towards Thomas, 36, who was getting out of a car with another man.
Throughout the interaction, Johnson threatens to send the police dog towards the two men — who were both unarmed — if they don’t comply.
After some time, the two men are directed to lay on the ground and the man who’s with Thomas is taken into custody. Officers then tell Thomas to stand back up. About 20 seconds later, Johnson “unleashed his specially trained attack dog” on Thomas while he was still on the ground, according to the lawsuit.
Body-camera video shows officers handcuffing Thomas while the dog continues to maul him. The attack lasts for about 43 seconds. After Thomas was handcuffed, the video shows Johnson praising the dog.
“[The dog] locked its jaws on Mr. Thomas's right arm, embedding its teeth deep into his flesh,” the lawsuit read. “Thomas suffered severe physical injuries, including lacerations, puncture wounds, permanent scarring, persistent muscle damage, and other impairments.”
“No one can look at footage like that…and think that our client posed any threat whatsoever, that there was any kind of excuse for this,” LaVarco said.
The lawsuit also accuses the officers of making “self-serving, false and misleading statements” about the K-9 attack. The officers allegedly said that Thomas was not following orders and that they were told by dispatch that the two man were armed.
According to the lawsuit, the officers were told that the caller who reported the disturbance was armed, not the two men.
In the months that followed the incident, Johnson confessed to sexually abusing multiple children and killed himself during a six-hour standoff with the police. Johnson’s estate is listed as a defendant in the lawsuit.
“Johnson is the ringleader of this entire attack,” LaVarco said. “The fact that he’s passed doesn’t mean that he should be able to escape accountability.”
Read the full lawsuit below:
