Federal court stalls as Cedar Rapids teenager bitten by police dog in 2020

CEDAR RAPIDS – A civil case in federal court ended in a mistrial in June, nearly three years after a Cedar Rapids woman filed suit against a Cedar Rapids police sniffer dog, claiming he used excessive force when his police dog bit her 13-year-old son, who was wrongfully arrested in 2020.

According to questions from jurors during deliberations, the jury said they could not agree on whether Officer Nathan Trimble used excessive force on August 12, 2020, when he released his four-legged partner Ace, who bit the teenager on the upper arm and held him for about 20 seconds before Trimble gave Ace the command to let go.

The teenager, named AH, was wrongfully arrested during a car theft and was never charged despite receiving treatment for cuts on his arm.

TonyaMarie Adams, AH’s mother, filed an open records request through her attorney to obtain a copy of the body camera footage of the incident, which she shared with the Gazette in 2021 after filing her lawsuit. The lawsuit was transferred from Linn County District Court to U.S. District Court because it involved claims under federal law.

Brad Kasper of Cedar Rapids, Adams’ attorney, said he would reopen the case after the mistrial and a judge would likely set a new trial date at a status conference, but no date has been set yet.

Trimble’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment.

Adams’ lawsuit was the second lawsuit filed against Cedar Rapids police and the city in 2021 involving Ace.

Howard T. Cones, who was homeless at the time, filed a lawsuit claiming he was sleeping under a picnic table bench in the park around midnight on July 12, 2018, when Ace “brutally attacked” him. The city settled for $50,000 in damages.

The city was also named in Adams’ lawsuit, but U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Roberts granted the defendant summary judgment in 2022 on all claims except for the use of excessive force against Trimble. The city was dismissed from the lawsuit at that time.

Roberts dismissed the claims against the city for equal treatment, negligence, racial discrimination, and liability. He also granted summary judgment on Trimble’s claims for racial discrimination, strict liability, and negligence, and dismissed them from the case.

In his summary judgment, Roberts addressed the facts of the case, including that the 13-year-old was wrongly identified as part of a group of men who fled from a vehicle and were suspected of possessing firearms.

What happened

A Casey’s store at 501 Sixth Street SW was burglarized around 11:50 p.m. on August 11, 2020, the day after the derecho. Three members of the Cedar Rapids Police Department’s mobile response team were patrolling the area looking for suspects, the ruling states.

Officers observed a blue Mazda with its lights off in the parking lot of another Casey’s location in the area of ​​701 Ellis Blvd. NW.

The officers decided to investigate the accident, but as they approached, the Mazda left the parking lot, the verdict states. The officers followed the Mazda and after it had made several turns, they turned on their vehicle’s hazard lights.

The Mazda did not stop and after several more turns it struck a fallen tree in an alley between Ellis Boulevard and Eighth Street NW. The driver and the other occupants of the vehicle got out and fled on foot.

Because of the derecho, trees have fallen in the area.

Two police officers pursued the driver, later identified as “ND,” on foot and eventually caught him outside a home in the 1100 block of Eighth Street NW, the ruling states. He was arrested and officers found a 9 mm handgun in his belt pouch.

ND identified two other people who were also in the Mazda, and Officer Trimble believed there was a “likelihood” that the suspects could be armed since the two named suspects were known to carry weapons.

Additional dog handlers were called in to assist, along with Trimble and Ace, the ruling states. One of the dog handlers gave the required warning over the patrol car’s loudspeaker system during the search, ordering the suspects to surrender because police dogs would be deployed and would bite them.

Another police dog nearby also gave the warning.

When Trimble went out with Ace, he did not give any warning with his dog during the search of the neighborhood, even after Ace sounded the alarm in one area.

One of the other police dogs sounded the alert as he drove his patrol car onto Ninth Street NW, the ruling said. Officers then saw a person hiding under a car in the driveway in the 1100 block of Ninth Street NW. A police dog came and warned the person that if he ran away he would be bitten by a police dog. The person came out and was identified as one of those who had been in the Mazda.

Ace then raised the alarm near the backyard of a residence in the 1100 block of Eighth Street NW, the ruling states. Trimble did not give any warning through the dog as he and Ace approached a metal trailer in the backyard. Ace found a person, later identified as AH, under the trailer.

Ace bit the teen on the upper arm, which was consistent with the dog’s training to guard, the ruling said. Trimble approached the teen and ordered him to show his hands. Another officer helped Trimble restrain the teen while another checked the backyard with a gun drawn.

When Trimble saw that AH had nothing in his hands, he ordered Ace to release his grip. Ace held AH for about 20 seconds.

The teenager was arrested and taken to hospital for treatment of his bite injuries before being released.

AH statement

During the civil trial, the 13-year-old and his friend “CS” testified they were at their friend’s house waiting for CS’s mother to pick them up, Kasper said. She was late because she was looking for a gas station that sold gas after the derecho knocked out power throughout Cedar Rapids and closed nearly all gas stations.

AH testified that he and CS were waiting on their friend’s porch when they noticed the police action. They are both black teenagers and did not feel safe in light of the death of George Floyd, which occurred three months earlier in Minnesota, Kasper said.

AH testified that he hid under the trailer and fell asleep. He said he was unaware of the police dogs in the area and had not heard any warnings from dog handlers in other parts of the neighborhood.

In his summary judgment, Roberts found that the excessive force charge against Trimble should be presented to a jury because the question was whether the 13-year-old was grabbed by Trimble’s dog without cause and bitten without warning.

Trimble did not give a warning through the dog, which is “undisputed,” Roberts said. It is also undisputed that the dog bit the teen on the arm and held him for 20 seconds. Trimble’s argument that he did not give a warning for safety reasons is contradicted by the fact that the other handlers, who had the same information and safety risks, gave four warnings through the dog, he said.

Police dog Ace retired before Trimble got a new dog, Ranger, in June 2023.

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