‘My Whole Brain Is Bleeding, Mama!’: Black Woman Whose Scalp Was Torn Off By Relentless K-9 Settles with California Police for Nearly $1M

The city of Brentwood, California, has paid nearly $1 million to settle a lawsuit by a Black woman who was mauled by a police dog during an arrest four years ago, ripping off part of her scalp and causing lasting brain damage. The settlement resolves the civil claim of excessive force against Brentwood police filed by Talmika Bates, who was 24 years old in February of 2020 when Officer Ryan Rezentes sicced his 85-pound German Shepherd named “Marco” on her during a police pursuit and arrest. Bates and two other women had stolen more than $10,000 worth of perfume and cosmetics from an Ulta Beauty store and led police on a car chase through the streets of Brentwood, at one point ramming a patrol car before abandoning their vehicle and running through a field into a wooded area. Talmika Bates screams after being bitten by a Brentwood Police dog. (Photo: YouTube/ABC 7 News) As Bates, who was unarmed, hid in thick shrubbery, Rezentes, a trained canine handler, commanded his dog to search the area. Marco soon found Bates, who was “crouched down and on the phone with her mom … biting her on the head from behind, pulling and dragging...