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West Jordan • The City Council on Wednesday night unanimously approved a $125,000 settlement with a resident who brought a civil-rights suit over injuries he suffered when a police dog attacked him in his home and chewed his face.
Councilman Jeff Haaga applauded the settlement as a way for the city to save money rather than defend against the suit in a lengthy court battle.
"This has nothing to do with the quality of our police department," Haaga said. "We shouldn't have to hide from the fact that we made a settlement."
Haaga said he wants local police officers to feel supported by the council and to move forward from the incident.
The settlement has been agreed to by West Jordan resident Martin Lee Hoogveldt.
"It was an awful attack," said Robert Sykes, attorney for Hoogveldt, whose 2013 encounter with police was captured by an officer's body camera. "Hopefully they'll have some training for the officers."
West Jordan police issued a statement Wednesday endorsing the deal.
"It's not an admission of liability or any wrongdoing," the statement said. "Our attorneys have determined it is more cost effective to put this behind us, rather than draw it out in court."
Hoogveldt, 33, was burning a Christmas tree in a trash can on March 24, 2013, which led to a disturbance complaint to police, according to his lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court.
As Hoogveldt went back into his house, he saw officers had surrounded his home, his lawsuit stated. Two were pointing guns at him, and the third, officer Ian Adams, had a German shepherd on a leash. Adams told Hoogveldt to open the front door or officers would kick it in. Hoogveldt in his lawsuit claims he was too scared to open the door and sat on the couch. Adams kicked the door in.
Adams ordered Hoogveldt to put up his hands and get off the couch; Hoogveldt put up his hands but didn't stand because he would have had to lower his hands onto the overstuffed couch to push himself up, his lawsuit states.
After several seconds, Adams ordered the dog, Pyro, to attack Hoogveldt while Hoogveldt's hands were up. Pyro latched onto Hoogveldt's face with his jaws and pulled him off the couch.
Officers then shocked Hoogveldt with Tasers and, after a minute or two, Pyro bit Hoogveldt's buttocks at Adams' direction, the complaint states.
The bites to Hoogveldt's face, neck, buttocks, leg and arm cost Hoogveldt about $60,000 in plastic surgery.
Police said they believed Hoogveldt posed a threat because in the weeks before the arrest, Hoogveldt had assaulted someone with a weapon, and officers had found him with a concealed weapon. Officers said that before they arrived to find the Christmas tree burning, Hoogveldt had threatened neighbors with a knife and started two fires at a neighbor's home.
"To protect the neighborhood and before the fire department could come in, officers had to secure Mr. Hoogveldt," officers wrote.
According to court records, Hoogveldt was charged with aggravated assault, a third-degree felony, and reckless burning and failure to remove flammable material around a fire, both misdemeanors, in the incident. The case was resolved with a plea in abeyance to reckless burning and all the charges were eventually dismissed.
Twitter: @erinalberty