BALDWIN PARK >> A police dog is off the streets, for now, after biting and breaking the hand of a 68-year-old public works employee outside City Hall last week.
The employee underwent surgery at a local hospital. The April 13 incident is under investigation and the dog “is currently out of service, pending an evaluation,” according to a police statement.
Jorge Canseco said via a Spanish translator that two bones in his right hand were broken. He faces a second surgery. Canseco, who has worked for the city for approximately 14 years, doesn’t know how long he will be off work.
Police said the accidental dog bite occurred adjacent to the station at about 8 a.m. on April 13. The station is located next to City Hall at 14403 Pacific Ave.
Authorities have not identified which of the department’s two dogs was the alleged culprit.
While the department released a bare bones version of the events, city officials and the employee provided more details about the encounter.
Canseco said he parked behind a police car that Thursday morning and saw an officer throwing a ball for a police dog to catch.
The second time he saw the ball thrown, it went near him. Canseco said the dog picked up the ball and the dog brushed against him. On the third throw, he said the ball came towards him. He bent down and came face-to-face with the dog.
At that point, he said the dog bit his right hand and didn’t let go.
Canseco yelled for help. He said the officer came to his aid followed by other officers.
An ambulance ferried him to a hospital where he remained for three days. Canseco was released April 15.
Councilman Ricardo Pacheco said the officer was training the police dog when the dog bit the employee.
“He was throwing a ball back and forth with the dog and the public works person was walking back and forth to his truck and at some point the dog I think mistook him as part of the training and then went and bit the public works worker on the wrist,” Pacheco said.
“The dog didn’t listen to the release command so they had to kind of pry his jaws open.”
Mayor Manuel Lozano said the dog grabbed the employee’s hand and almost severed the man’s hand to the bone.
“It appears he is OK,” Lozano said, adding that he visited the employee at the hospital Friday.
Canseco thinks what happened to him is an accident. He doesn’t bear any resentment toward the dog or the officer. He has not spoken to an attorney and said that is not what he is thinking about. He’s focused more on healing.
Karla Caceres contributed to this report.
