Police K9 bites bystander as Washington officers make nearby arrest, video shows

A Washington police dog has been put on leave after biting a bystander in a video posted to Facebook, KGW reported.

In the video, a Vancouver police officer opens his patrol vehicle during an arrest and a K9 leaps out before dashing across the street.

The dog attacks a bystander walking on the opposite sidewalk, tugging on his sleeve, the video posted to Facebook shows.

The handler, assisted by another officer, forces the dog off the flailing bystander, attaches a leash and pulls it back across the street, the video shows. Other officers approach to aid the bystander.

Vancouver police say the man suffered minor injuries, KOIN reported.

“I could not believe what I was seeing,” said Nathan Lux, who had been filming the arrest on his cellphone before the incident with the dog took place, KPTV reported. “I honestly could not believe that this was real life.”

“All I was hearing was, ‘heel, heel, heel,’ and so the dog was not listening to any of it whatsoever,” Lux said, KATU reported.

Joe Gold, who also witnessed the incident, said he thought the dog might have been confused, according to the station.

“It was almost like the dog thought the guy was the criminal he was dealing with,” Gold said, KATU reported. “It was within a second, there was a dog, a police dog attacking an innocent person.”

Police are investigating the incident, KOIN reported.

“The department will be conducting an internal investigation related to the incident and the K-9 will be removed from deployment until the investigation is complete,” a statement released by the department says, KATU reported.

This story was originally published September 24, 2019 at 1:40 PM.