Off-Duty Police Dog Attacks Innocent Boy
“If you’re a K-9 cop, you have to have complete control of the dog. In a residential area, it shouldn’t be off a leash. I can’t have my dog off a leash.” — Terri Fitzgerald, mother of 13-year-old boy who was attacked without provocation by an off-duty St. Paul Police dog.
It’s easy to understand the frustration and anger of South St. Paul’s Terri Fitzgerald, who spent time in the hospital this week with her 13-year-old son Mitch, who received 16 stitches after an unleashed, off-duty police dog attacked him and bit him on the face until the dog’s handler realized what was happening and called him off, Mrs. Fitzgerald told the Saint Paul Pioneer Press Dispatch.
It was the second time since 2007 that the dog, Sarik, bit someone who wasn’t a police target, police said. Sarik’s handler is Officer Isaac Rinehart and they have appeared together on Animal Planet’s “K-9 Cops” television series.
A St. Paul Police Department spokesman told the Star Tribune that Sarik got off his leash Sunday evening while Rinehart was off duty. The boy was standing near a water tower in South St. Paul, doing nothing wrong. Department officials will decide if discipline is warranted after the South St. Paul Police Department investigates the case.
To contact a Minnesota dog bite lawyer at our law firm, please call 612-338-0202, call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or submit our free attorney consultation form.
Bouncer Charged with Rape at Coon Rapids, MN Bar
A bouncer at a Coon Rapids bar is charged with raping one patron and attempting to rape another patron in the bar that same night, according to the Star Tribune1:
Russel W. Ruzin, 37, of Brooklyn Park, was charged Monday with criminal sexual conduct in the first and third degrees and attempted fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct.
Ruzin is accused of pulling a 22-year-old woman into a dark bathroom next to the bouncer’s stand at Rapids Bar and Grill early Saturday, pushing her against a sink and raping her during what was the bar’s final day of business.
Bar Liability for Bouncer Conduct
PritzkerOlsen attorney Eric Hageman has represented people injured by bouncers. He had this to say about Russel Ruzin’s alleged sexual conduct and the bar’s liability:
“This kind of egregious misconduct – two separate allegations in one night – raises questions about whether this bouncer had been engaging in a pattern of conduct of which the bar should have been aware. Someone capable of actions like these obviously should have never been placed in any sort of position of authority.“
If you have been sexually assaulted or injured in any way by a bouncer at a Minnesota bar, contact Eric for information about your legal rights and bar liability: 612-338-0202, 1-888-377-8900 (toll-free) or submit our free consultation form.
Reference:
1. Paul Walsh, Bar bouncer faces rape charges, Star Tribune, March 4, 2009.
Minnesota Daycare Child Abuse and Injury Law
Having a child injured while in a daycare facility is every parent’s worst nightmare. Parents need to know that the people entrusted with their children’s care are not abusing that trust. This is especially true in Minnesota, which regularly leads the nation in the proportion of working mothers, with nearly three out of four mothers of preschoolers holding jobs outside the home.
Working parents should expect their children to be monitored, supervised, and safe in day cares that are licensed by the government. Yet the sad truth is that there are many cases of emotional, physical or sexual abuse that occur at daycare centers. As a result, many families are forced to deal with the pain and suffering of their children who have been abused in daycare.
Thankfully, Minnesota law supports that daycare facilities, and those who work in them, owe a legal duty to protect children from harm. In 2005, the Minnesota Court of Appeals made just such a ruling in a case entitled Laska v. Anoka County, 696 N.W,2d 133 (Minn. App. 2005), holding a daycare liable for the failure to supervise a vulnerable infant who died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). The court reinforced the ruling of the Minnesota Supreme Court from a 1986 case called Andrade v. Ellefson, 391 N.W.2d 836, 842 (Minn. 1986) that “small children in a licensed day care facility are a particular protected class.”
Parents can help to prevent daycare abuse from happening by thoroughly screening prospective daycare facilities and ensuring that daycare providers are trained, qualified and attentive to their children’s needs. Moreover, the Minnesota legislature has licensing requirements for daycare facilities to ensure the safety and well-being of children in day care. See Minn. R. 9502.0325.
But, even despite such vigilance from parents and the government, abuse sometimes still happens. If your child is involved in an abusive daycare environment, remove your child from the environment immediately and contact the police. Do not deal directly with the daycare facility. PritzkerLaw can assist you as you work through the details of the apparent abuse. Please contact our office today to schedule a confidential consultation.
