Sacramento to pay $99K settlement to man whose dog was shot by police outside Safeway

The city of Sacramento is paying a $99,000 settlement to a man whose dog was shot by a police officer outside a midtown Safeway.

The settlement agreement, obtained by The Sacramento Bee from a request under the California Public Records Act, was signed in September — about six months after a lawsuit was filed in federal court alleging officers used excessive force.

Kevin Cole was sitting on the ground outside the Safeway with his dog after shopping in December 2019 when a security guard told him to leave, the lawsuit said. Police arrived and told him to leave within nine minutes. Before the nine minutes were up, an officer wrestled Cole to the ground and handcuffed him, causing his dog, who was on a leash, to become agitated, the lawsuit said.

“I do not want to shoot your dog,” one of the officers can be heard saying on a video the Police Department released, while the dog barks and growls.

One officer shot the dog in the leg. The shrapnel ricocheted off the sidewalk, then hit Cole between his eyes and also hit a security guard, the lawsuit said.

Cole and his dog both survived, but were injured, said Mark Merin, a longtime civil rights lawyer who represented Cole in the case.

“The city had been working toward a fair and reasonable resolution to this case and feels that was achieved with this settlement,” city spokesman Tim Swanson said in an email.

The Police Department declined comment because it is still investigating the incident.

The complaint named the city of Sacramento, its Police Department, Police Chief Daniel Hahn and officers Justin Shepard and George Martinez as defendants. Both officers are still employed by the city, Swanson said.

Cole was not homeless, but police likely assumed he was, sitting on the ground with his backpack and his dog, Merin said.

“It’s another example of an outrageous police response to a rather simple situation,” Merin said.

Cole has a neurological disorder and it takes him some time to get around, Merin said. Cole had just finished shopping and was putting his groceries in his backpack to take to the light rail to his Del Paso Heights home, Merin said.

“But he was perceived to be a homeless vagrant and it was on that basis they were strong-arming him and trying to hustle him off the property and that’s what led to the ridiculous use of force,” Merin said.