I just wanted apology, says police dog victim
An innocent man bitten by a police dog says he would not have taken a $40,000 lawsuit to the Court of Appeal if police had simply apologised. That's why you never hold your breath with them. They always think they're right, and if they think they may be wrong, they'll try to make it right. Planting of evidence comes to mind! Nothing like that happened to me, but one reads a lot, and it creates an opinion...
West Aucklander Matini Vaihu has just been given permission to take his claim back to court. The case revolves around whether a police dog's actions can be separated from that of a handler. Well, if you can be charged for hurting a police dog because it's considered part of the police force, I don't think that one can separate a dog's actions from that of a handler. Besides, the dog is as good or as bad as the dog owner...
Four years ago, Vaihu had an artery in his left arm severed and he lost two litres of blood after being bitten by police dog "Willis" in New Lynn, Auckland. Police had suspected the then 25-year-old of being involved in kicking signs over at a local petrol station. Racial, I'd say!
Vaihu was in fact vomiting in a nearby carpark after suffering stomach cramps induced by pills taken for his kidney problems. He was on dialysis at the time.
"I'm sick of it," Vaihu said yesterday. "I never cared about the money. I cared about the officer - if he came to the hospital and said he was wrong, I would have done nothing about it."
Vaihu said he could hear the police dog's breath while vomiting in the carpark. He had pulled over while on his way home from his girlfriend's house.
"I turned around to get into my car and the dog jumped from the other side, right towards my groin. I pushed it away and he grabbed my arm and took pieces out of my arm."
Vaihu's left arm was already weakened because it was where he had a shunt inserted for his regular dialysis sessions. He says it took about 20 seconds before the dog's handler, Constable Chris Taylor, arrived.
As soon as he realised it was a police dog, Vaihu said he laid down on the ground. While he tried to explain why he was vomiting in the carpark, Taylor told him he was under arrest. I never heard of vomiting to be a crime !!
"I tried to explain my condition but it took a long time for them to ask for an ambulance to the hospital."
A St John's report says Vaihu was lying in a pool of blood when ambulance officers arrived. He spent four days in hospital having his arm treated.
Read more of this honor story!
West Aucklander Matini Vaihu has just been given permission to take his claim back to court. The case revolves around whether a police dog's actions can be separated from that of a handler. Well, if you can be charged for hurting a police dog because it's considered part of the police force, I don't think that one can separate a dog's actions from that of a handler. Besides, the dog is as good or as bad as the dog owner...
Four years ago, Vaihu had an artery in his left arm severed and he lost two litres of blood after being bitten by police dog "Willis" in New Lynn, Auckland. Police had suspected the then 25-year-old of being involved in kicking signs over at a local petrol station. Racial, I'd say!
Vaihu was in fact vomiting in a nearby carpark after suffering stomach cramps induced by pills taken for his kidney problems. He was on dialysis at the time.
"I'm sick of it," Vaihu said yesterday. "I never cared about the money. I cared about the officer - if he came to the hospital and said he was wrong, I would have done nothing about it."
Vaihu said he could hear the police dog's breath while vomiting in the carpark. He had pulled over while on his way home from his girlfriend's house.
"I turned around to get into my car and the dog jumped from the other side, right towards my groin. I pushed it away and he grabbed my arm and took pieces out of my arm."
Vaihu's left arm was already weakened because it was where he had a shunt inserted for his regular dialysis sessions. He says it took about 20 seconds before the dog's handler, Constable Chris Taylor, arrived.
As soon as he realised it was a police dog, Vaihu said he laid down on the ground. While he tried to explain why he was vomiting in the carpark, Taylor told him he was under arrest. I never heard of vomiting to be a crime !!
"I tried to explain my condition but it took a long time for them to ask for an ambulance to the hospital."
A St John's report says Vaihu was lying in a pool of blood when ambulance officers arrived. He spent four days in hospital having his arm treated.
Read more of this honor story!
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home