Wichita officer bit by Sedgwick County deputy’s K-9, county settles

Sedgwick County will pay out $37,500 after a deputy’s K-9 bit a Wichita police officer.

Documents obtained through an open records request show Sedgwick County Deputy Sarah Sinnett’s K-9 bit Wichita police Officer Nathan Toman in the “right testicle, right inner thigh and right wrist” during a November 2017 burglary call. Toman also suffered a fractured wrist, according to his attorney. Earlier this month, the Sedgwick County Commission approved the settlement with Toman.

The dog’s handler, Sinnett, is the same deputy who successfully sued the city of Wichita for $67,000 after being bit by a Wichita police K-9 in December 2014.

In the latest case, the county reached a settlement without a lawsuit being filed in court.

Lee, Gurney and Hess — the law firm representing Toman — sent a letter to the county asking for total damages of roughly $221,000.

The letter says officers responded to a burglary call at a vacant home on South Main Street. Officers searched the main level and basement but couldn’t find the suspect. They thought the suspect was barricaded in a crawl space, so they called into it. There was no reply.

Toman, who had his gun drawn, backed away from the crawl space when Sinnett looked in and saw the suspect, according to Kate Flavin, Sedgwick County public information officer.

Sinnett commanded the suspect to come out.

When Toman went to reposition, he cut in front of the dog, Flavin wrote in an email. The dog “broke from its off-position, and bit Officer Toman.”

“Deputies immediately called off the K-9,” Flavin wrote, “which responded to commands, but the whole sequence took place in a matter of seconds.”

In the December 2014 case, the settlement stems from a call where officers tried to remove a man sitting in a vehicle with a machete.

A Wichita officer left his door open, allowing his Belgian Malinois to “self-deploy” after seeing his handler in a struggle with the suspect, according to court records. Sinnett, the Sedgwick County deputy, was bitten on the left thigh.

Her lawsuit said the Wichita officer acted negligently by leaving his door open. The lawsuit also says Wichita failed to adequately train K-9 officers and ensure the dog was properly certified.

This story was originally published November 29, 2019 at 2:16 PM.