A Black man who was bitten by a police canine after being mistaken for an intruder in his uncle’s apartment is suing the Chesterfield, Virginia, police officer who sicced the dog on him for $2.5 million, claiming the attack was an excessive use of force.
In his federal lawsuit, Derrick Williams says he was asleep in a bedroom of the River Forest Apartments on Oct. 11, 2022, when he heard the front door being kicked in and someone stomping around, then a woman’s voice cursing and telling him she had a gun. He said he didn’t recognize the voice. The woman left, and he went back to sleep.
Williams, 36, who lives in New York, said he had been staying in the apartment for a few weeks. His uncle, Tyleek Harris, had given him a key after his uncle’s ex-girlfriend, Kara Kennedy, had moved out in early September.
Williams says he was jarred awake again a short time later by the commands of Chesterfield Police Officer Cpl. Gordon Painter, who ordered him to come out of the bedroom…