Police Wrongly Identify Suspect and Police Dog Bites his Daughter

Police in a small Midwestern town showed up at the wrong house last week, and the mistake left a young girl with bite marks from a K-9 unit. Officers had been tracking a robbery suspect and somehow matched the address to a family that had nothing to do with the case. When they arrived, the father stepped outside to ask what was going on. Moments later the dog was on his daughter.

The girl, who is nine, was playing in the yard when the animal was released. She suffered lacerations on her leg that required stitches. Her father said he kept yelling that they had the wrong people, but commands were already given and the dog did not stop right away. Neighbors who saw the scene described confusion on both sides, with officers eventually realizing the error only after the girl was already hurt.

Department officials later admitted the address mix-up came from an outdated report that had never been corrected in their system. They released the father at the scene once they confirmed he was not the person they wanted. No charges were filed against the family, and the department said it would review how the dog was deployed during what turned out to be a non-violent stop.

The father told local reporters he is considering legal action. He described watching his daughter get dragged a few feet before officers pulled the animal off. His wife was inside at the time and came out to find the girl crying and bleeding on the grass. Both parents said they still do not know exactly which suspect the police were after or why their home was targeted.

Community members have started asking questions about training and oversight for the department’s K-9 teams. The girl is recovering at home, though her parents say she is now afraid to go outside alone. The department has not released the officer’s name or the dog’s status pending an internal look at the call.