Snelson said after a short driving pursuit, police deployed spike strips to disable the suspect’s vehicle, and four occupants fled on foot.
“All four occupants fled the vehicle in different directions. And so multiple officers were chasing multiple suspects in different directions, and one of the suspects was pursued on foot by Sgt. Taylor, as well as one of our police canines,” Snelson said. “And that’s where Sgt. Taylor was bitten, and the unintentional firing of his firearm occurred.”
Snelson declined to speak about the specifics of the recent bite as it is still under investigation, but said police dogs have minds of their own, and during “dynamic police operations,” can sometimes go after the wrong target.
“During the pursuit of suspects, there can be other people that come in close proximity to the attempted apprehension of the suspect. That can result in the dog misidentifying or unintentionally biting the person we did not intend to bite,” Snelson said.
Police said in a press release on Feb. 19 that the shot Taylor fired hit one of the suspects, a 25-year-old from Redwood City. He was hospitalized for his injury, but Snelson said he has since been discharged and was turned over to another police agency for alleged crimes in that jurisdiction.
Taylor, a 17-year veteran of the department, was treated for injuries from the dog bite at a trauma center and was released the same night. He is currently on paid administrative leave, which is standard practice after a shooting while an investigation occurs.
Police have not yet released details about which police dog bit Taylor in the more recent incident, but Snelson confirmed that it was another officer’s dog, and that Taylor doesn’t currently handle a police canine of his own.
In 2017, when Taylor was an officer in the K-9 unit, he was bitten by his own police dog while fighting with a man suspected of battery. After being punched by the man multiple times, he released his police dog, Cairo, from the car via a button on his person.
But instead of Cairo biting the man, the dog jumped up and bit Taylor, he told investigators. While distracted by the dog, the suspect landed another blow, and Taylor feared he’d be knocked unconscious if he was hit again. Taylor then pulled his gun and shot the man three times. After he fell to the ground, the dog then began biting his leg.
Another arriving officer provided medical care to the man, who was declared deceased by paramedics on the scene. The Alameda District Attorney’s Office cleared Taylor of any wrongdoing in a report later that year.
It’s unclear how many times a Fremont Police Department K-9 has bitten an officer on duty, but Snelson said it is “very rare.”
Michael S. Gould, a retired lieutenant and former commander of the Nassau County Police Department K-9 unit, agreed dogs biting officers generally happen only “on occasion.”
“It’s no different than maybe spraying pepper spray and another officer gets sprayed by the overspray,” Gould said. “It shouldn’t happen frequently.”
Gould said “accidents happen,” but it’s important for departments to closely document these incidents and review training if needed, if patterns emerge with a particular dog or a K-9 team as a whole.
“If they have a history of accidental bites, a history of accidentally discharging their weapon, of course, that has to be examined,” he said.
While the investigation into the more recent biting incident is still in progress, Snelson said “there’s no indication that it’s an issue with Sgt. Taylor,” causing him to have been bitten twice.
“I think he’s been a very active officer and sergeant in his career, and he finds himself in active operations,” Snelson said. “And it was just an unfortunate set of circumstances that resulted in this unintentional discharge.”
Taylor was also one of three officers who fatally fired on a man in 2019 after officials said the man ambushed an officer with gunfire late at night.
