Unleashed Police Dog Mauls Oregon Couple, Lawsuit Claims

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An Oregon couple is suing the city of Portland, a police officer and his wife for $1.7 million, claiming a police dog bit them while off leash in 2021, causing puncture wounds so deep that muscle and bone were visible.

Jason and Kristina Norris – who live in Happy Valley, where the incident occurred – filed the negligence complaint in Multnomah County circuit court March 9, requesting a jury trial.

In the suit, the Norrises say they were walking on a paved footpath near Southeast Carmichael Court and Ridgecrest Road on March 12, 2021, when an unleashed German Shepherd approached them.

The dog lunged at Kristina Norris unprovoked, they said, sinking its teeth into her left forearm and dragging her to the ground. As Jason Norris tried to release the dog’s “powerful grip” from his wife’s bleeding arm, the dog bit his left hand, according to the lawsuit.

The dog then bit Jason Norris’s right lower leg and mauled him for several minutes while the couple screamed for help. People nearby heard their calls and called 911, the suit said.



Kristina and Jason Norris were bleeding heavily when an ambulance arrived, and later, Portland police officer Jeffrey Dorn, who said the dog was part of the Portland Police Canine Unit and under his care.

The couple alleges that Jeffrey Dorn and his wife Sarah Dorn were negligent in their care of the police dog and failed to maintain adequate fencing around their Happy Valley property in the 14000 block of Southeast Shasta Lane, creating “an unreasonable and foreseeable risk of harm to pedestrians in their neighborhood.”

Jason and Kristina Norris are each asking for $850,000 in damages from the attack.

The city attorney’s office and the Portland Police Bureau said they would not comment on open litigation.