Richland County sheriff must pay $35K in police dog bite case, jury rules

A Richland County jury has ruled that Sheriff Leon Lott’s office must pay $35,000 to a woman bitten by one of his department’s police dogs.

A lawsuit in the case was brought by Juanita Robbins, who alleged that while visiting her son in Cayce on May 23, 2013, a police dog attacked her and bit her.

“If your dog bites someone, there is no defense — period, except if the dog is provoked,” said Robbins’ attorney John “Jay” Elliott.

And the dog — a Belgian Malinois named Seppe — was not provoked, Elliott said.

Lott said the long delay in having a trial — some eight years — in the matter was in part caused by the plaintiff’s wish to get compensation he said was excessive.

”She wanted $2.1 million. She had an accidental dog bite. We accepted responsibility for that from Day One, and (we) wanted to pay her bills, and 10 years later, this (the trial) is where we were at,” Lott said. “It was not a catastrophic injury. We said we were sorry for what happened.”

Robbins’ medical bills came to less than $1,000, both sides agreed. Her injuries, described at trial, were three puncture wounds in her upper thigh area.

Robbins, who was 51 at the time of the incident, also contended that she suffered severe psychological distress from the incident, Elliott said.

Robbins was inside the Cayce home with her son when the dog leapt at her and bit her, producing lasting scars on her thigh, Elliott said.

The dog was in the house because her son was a co-tenant with Richland County deputy and dog handler, Josh Pardi, according to the lawsuit.

Belgian Malinois are, along with German Shepherds, two of the most widely-used police dogs.

The trial started May 17, and finished the next day. The jury was out approximately one hour, lawyers said.

Robert Garfield and Steven Spreeuwers represented the sheriff’s office. Besides Ellliott, lawyers for the plaintiff were Kyle White and Drew Bradshaw.

Judge Jocelyn Newman presided.