Updated
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
A Centralia woman is recovering after an unexpected encounter with a police dog last night at her back door.
Janice Arias said she was sitting at her kitchen table visiting with two friends when she heard a commotion outside.
“I had my little six-pound Chihuahua in my arms, I opened the back door, I had my flashlight,” Arias said. “I seen an officer moving around, and the next thing I see, is a big black dog head coming at me.”
Lobo
Arias said the K-9 bit her twice on her left breast and left a seven-inch scratch on her inner thigh.
She was wearing pajama pants.
“I was in shock, and screaming, I dropped my Chihuahua,” she said. “My pit bull Tigger heard me and came running, and got between me and K-9 Lobo.”
She said the two dogs began fighting and the officer came over and gave his dog commands like, “release” and “out”.
“The officer left, and all I heard was ‘get your ass back in the house’,” she said.
Centralia Police Officer Ruben Ramirez had been attempting to pull over a stolen Honda Accord along North Pearl Street, north of Reynolds Avenue.
After its driver jumped out of the still-moving vehicle and fled on foot, the officer activated his door release and called Lobo to apprehend the felony suspect, according to police.
“As Lobo was moving toward Officer Ramirez, a resident came outside of her house carrying a small dog in her arms,” Centralia police stated in a news release today. “Officer Ramirez recognized Lobo was going towards the resident and immediately called the dog off and commanded Lobo to lay down.”
Centralia police say as the K-9 laid down, he was almost simultaneously attacked by the pit bull.
Ramirez broke up the dog fight and instructed the woman to go back inside because a suspect was still outstanding, according to police.
The suspect got away.
Lobo, a German Shepherd, came to the Centralia Police Department at age 1 in mid-2010.
Earlier this year, he was given the Centralia Police Department Lifesaving Award, for grabbing the arm of a suspect who produced a gun while engaged with Ramirez.
Police Chief Carl Nielsen in the formal statement said they are sorry the resident was injured, but at this point, it’s not clear which of the three dogs is to blame.
“This was a dynamic incident with a lot of different things occurring at the same time,” Nielsen stated.
The incident is being reviewed by department staff, according to Nielsen. Arias said police Sgt. Carl Buster took her statement.
Nielsen noted how thankful the department is Ramirez has “outstanding control” over his dog. Detective Patty Finch said Lobo is not being put on leave.
Arias disputes that she stepped outside, at least not until an ambulance arrived to take her to Providence Centralia Hospital.
The 48-year-old Centralia native said neither of her dogs were injured, but she is very sore.
Lobo didn’t leave puncture wounds, but broke the skin, she said.
The emergency room doctor put her on antibiotics and pain medication and told her she was lucky she had been wearing a hooded sweatshirt over her T-shirt, she said.
It was a frightening experience, she said, one she expects the police department should take responsibility for.
Arias said her two friends can vouch for what happened, as they were right behind her. And she’s wrapped up the sweatshirt in a plastic bag, certain it has Lobo’s DNA on it.
“I understand he was doing his job, but he should have a little more control over his dog,” she said. “People should be able to open up their doors and not have a K-9 come up and attack you.”
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
oh did I forget to mention that. Gacho lost his leg and he only has 3 now
Funny how some folks are so quick to back the officers and dogs actions without question, two weeks ago they shot my pit bull Gacho without cause or provocation he simply went out a door the officers left open while bringing their canine in . Then almost shot me when i tried to go comfort my animal. He was taken to cascade vet. Clinic and officer signed for and statedyou miss 100% Centralia Police Department’s responsibility hours later a superior officer called the vet clinic and told him they would not pay a dime in that he also did not have the authority to state that. gacho sufferred for a day and a half almost 2 days with a bullet in him and a broken leg because they screwed up. Why does their dog get revered for attacking a citizen and my gentle loving pit bull get shot? Bs if you ask me
@Pending: Thanks for the tip. If I can find a cheap copy or get it in the library I will. Although not in the arena, I think posting on this comment facility is a legitimate, even if frivolous, activity.
Some people take it seriously and get all righteous and bent out of shape but it’s only viewpoints of people from different backgrounds, experiences, prejudices, and agendas.
I don’t think comments here have much influence on the future policies or events in Lewis County.
Anglo Saxon Pride and Crazy old man, you need to read Teddy Roosevelt’s “The Man in the Arena”. Because neither of you are smart enough to figure out the symbolism I’ll throw you a bone…YOU”RE NOT THE MAN IN THE ARENA!!!
@Wilbur: Recently there have been news articles about the Disagreement between FBI director James Corney and President Obama about what Corney calls the “Ferguson Effect”.
He states that there has been a spike in violent crime in certain cities and speculates that, since Ferguson, police officers are hesitant to come out of their cars and aggressively deal with lawbreakers as they have in the past.
Below is a quote from one of the stories:
That “age of viral videos” and anxious officers may be at least partly behind the increase in violent crime, said FBI Director James Comey Monday, amplifying earlier remarks.
I am a property owner in Centralia, and have had police officers come onto my property several times in past years for various reasons. I don’t expect them to be friendly, but they are always helpful. I’m not always friendly, but I always try to be helpful and understanding. If I were bitten by one of their dogs I would expect them to pay any out of pocket health care costs and that’s where the buck stops for me. I would thank them for aggressively pursuing thieves and crime stopping, then I would forget about it. Chances are the next time I need the police they will view my past interactions with them in a positive way, and give my story the benefit of the doubt.
@notsocrazyguyIlike “… the violent crime rates in the cities are skyrocketing.” Faux News and the corporate media wants you to think that crime is skyrocketing however, FBI uniform crime reports show both violent and property crime as decreasing steadily since 1995:
FBI 2014 Crime in the US
If I was Lobo,I wouldn’t just lay there if a pit bull came after me!! Lol…Lobo,keep doing your Job…and to CPD, pay the ladys medical bills… Before you end up on JUDGE JUDY!! LOL
I can’t believe how ridiculous some of you “adults” are. I have had several encounters with the officer and the dog. Anyone who says he’s a liar or that he is responsible or the dog wasn’t well behaved obviously doesn’t know officer ramirez or Lobo. The chihuahua probably freaked out with all the commotion and scratched her. I’m sick and tired of the “police are abusive and racist” bullshit.get your facts straight
Ann. You must be joking! Trespassing on private property,and she’s lucky he didn’t shoot this welfare lady’s dog? Some people might take that as a attack on a family member. I know I would, and I’m sure my attorney would also! Good defense!! Police have to obey the same fkn laws I do ! And if I shoot some strangers pet what the hell would happen to me!! People like you are the reason the police get away with all the shit they do!! And don’t do.
Aggressive policing is necessary in the cities to keep a lid on the unrest of all the young people mostly of color with no future except a life of crime. Since Ferguson, the members of the paramilitary police force fear that they will be held criminally liable for brutality or death of these citizens so the safe bet is to stay in the car. So says the FBI director when analyzing why the violent crime rates in the cities are skyrocketing.
I don’t live in Centralia and don’t know if these conditions exist in some neighborhoods there. I do see from Sirens that the crimes always seem to be on the same streets and areas. I chose to get out of the city years ago.
I guess that you can be on either side of the fence:
1- You believe that it is necessary for the police to aggressively pursue the lawbreakers even though there will be some deaths, brutality, collateral damage, and the occasional citizen being dog bit.
2: You believe that it’s not worth the occasional police brutality, collateral damage, and police shootings to pursue these people aggressively and that citizens rights are much more important than living in a police state with a militarized police force immune to prosecution from all but the most grievous publicly filmed incidents.
Looks like someone wants a payday. The police dogs are well trained to obey. If they did not, they would not be in the department. When there is a dog fight, unless it is on camera, you cannot prove who did the biting and of course the k9 dog will have dna on her shirt, as will her pitbull and chihuahua, because of the commotion, so again, payday? The k9 would obey far better than the womans dogs. The officer seemed to be the only one able to end the dog foght and i salute him for not shooting the pitbull. The woman should not have come outside, just to be nosy. Far worse could have happened, like her hetting shot by the person the police were persuing. How dumb. Guess being brave only worked so far for her. Im on the side of the law this time. Both officer and k9 are well respected and highly awarded. Get a job if you want money. Stop looking for easy way out. Be happy your dogs are alive, and you are as well. Smh.
Xd cencorship happens to me on alot of the articles i try to post. Im used to it.
Its funny these same officers names keep popping up when there’s a brutality incident. I have come in contact with this officer a few times was never doing anything unlawful but he was by no means nice or helpful. He only cares about his own stripes.
Or maybe it’s because she had her Chihuahua in her arms – that’s a Mexican dog isn’t it:)
@Soaper: Have you considered that old Lobo might be prejudiced against blacks and Hispanics? I don’t know if the victim here is Hispanic but the name is Spanish origin.
Of course officer Ramirez’s name sounds Hispanic also but
maybe, because officer Ramirez is always sicing Lobo on Hispanics and the occasional Black, he thinks they are all bad and he should bite them all:)
Perhaps canine officer Lobo needs some remedial sensitivity training.
Nobody should be surprised by this at all. That is how officers often speak to the public they serve. Do you really think that all of these stories about police abusing their authority, abusing people, and then worst of all lying about it are all just people who decided that it would be fun to pick on law enforcement for a while for the heck of it? Knowing how much of a living hell that one cop, let alone, an entire department can make somebody’s life. Surely their are groups out there that one could target that would be a lot less able to exact revenge upon said individual than law enforcement are there not? Sure there is a very small group of people who taunt the police in hopes of pushing them over the edge and then look to cash in on it when the police do react with overwhelming force, but I assure you it is by far the minority of them. Why would somebody want to pick a fight with the cops? Anybody with half a brain knows that it just isn’t worth it given all of the resources cops have to ruin those people’s lives. Only a fool could look at the recent climate of us VS them between the police and the public and conclude that the police are the victims. People are simply getting fed up with it and this officer yelling at the woman “get your ass back inside” after being mauled by this K-9 officer in her own back yard is a perfect example of exactly why this is the case. Completely unprofessional and inappropriate. Why doesn’t he take his attack dog and “get his ass off her property?” Instead, by the comments it sounds like he destroyed some of her property as well.
As AngloSaxon points out, this is a perfect example of why body cameras should be a required part of every cops uniform. The idea of a polygraph being a better tool to determine what really took place at the scene of an incident is so ridiculous I cannot believe that the poster who said that is that disconnected with reality. Really. Just think about that statement for a second and how asinine it really is. I’ll leave it at that.
If the courts around here truly represent justice then I think its fair to say that Centralia PD has a bit of a problem on their hands. Even their regular practice of outright lying on anything that incriminates them has an uphill battle beings as there are witnesses and the wounds on the victim sound pretty inline with her story.
Lets take a look at Officer Ramirez’s version of events. He lets the dog out of the car and notices it charging the woman who just exited the house (why this takes place is strange because I thought those dogs followed the scent of the suspect that it is chasing…not just any human being that happens to be in front of it…kinda scary). Ramirez must have known his dog was out of control to start yelling commands at it to disengage. How could he be so sure his dog was going to attack the innocent woman? Could it be that they know that they really don’t have the control over these dogs that they claim to? Well, if he didn’t know before he does now since it sounds like the dog completely disobeyed his command. If his statement of the K-9 immediately breaking off the pursuit to lay down, but was then “almost simultaneously” (interesting phrase) attacked by the pit bull is true then how did the woman end up dog bites from her thigh to her breast? Nowhere does it say that she was involved in breaking the fight between the dogs up. So who bit her?
The only “dynamic” event of this story is reality changing to fiction at the hands of the Centralia PD. For Nielsen to claim that Ramirez had “outstanding control” of his dog after just biting the hell out of a citizen is laughable to say the least. For one, how would he know? He wasn’t even there. So he just automatically takes the side of his officer who clearly lost control of his animal. That is so unprofessional it’s pathetic. At least try and sound neutral Nielsen. It looks much better. Especially since other than your guy the only witnesses at the scene completely contradict that statement. Sometimes better to remain silent and be thought of as a fool than…..
Anyhow, this is an unfortunate event for all involved. All I know is if the victim in this was a family member of mine I would be furious. I still am very sympathetic to her case though because I believe her. I am optimistic however that if she hires a halfway decent attorney they will be able to easily expose the multiple holes in the Centralia PD’s version of events with minimal effort. If this isn’t a prime example of the need for body cams I do not know what is.
Finally, if it turns out that the officer was indeed found to be lying about the events he should be sent packing. Lying police officers is absolutely intolerable. When that is going on you have a serious problem. Everybody should agree with that. A civilized society has no place for that.
Where is the K-9 now? By law he should be locked up by animal control (not with his owner/handler). & Under observation. This is a dog bite incident, just because the owner is the Centralia PD doesn’t give them a free pass. The Stare law is clear on that. This dog is now considered a dangerous dog per RCWA 16.08.
I am in my forties and I have never had an issue with the police force. I have been pulled over for speeding and received well-deserved tickets. Otherwise, I’ve never had an issue. What are all of you police-hating people doing to make you so upset/afraid/disenchanted with the police? I’m so glad that none of my family is involved in law enforcement. It is a thankless job and they put their lives at risk for the community daily. The number of criminals and druggies roaming our streets is ridiculous. You could not pay me enough money to do their job. Also, your accusations and ranting would have more substance if you used spell check once in awhile. Hard to take you seriously when you come across as being uneducated.
I will not comment on the K-9 dog bite above except to say that the two neighbors dogs are great well behaved dogs. The other things that need to be brought up here is the property damage that has been done while looking for the running suspect. Well it all be paid for. What about the neighbors fence that was kicked down one board at a time and what about the flower pots that was broke in my other neighbors yard. Now I see why the tell you to stay in the house to you can not see what is going on….respect for all involved but really…
This is the way police talk to tax paying citizens. Get your ass back in the house. The public servent should of said mam there is a dangerous suspect on the loose could you go back in your home and lock the door for your safety. Instead the non body wearing no dash camera having cop just talks down to members of the community after their out of control dog bites her. This is a prime example of why body cameras are needed to be worn by the public servents we trust to protect the community. Instead get your ass back in the house is what we get for our tax dollars. Sueing does nothing its not even their money. How much more shit like this does our community have to put up with? Another thing 50,000 thousand dollars was taken from a Marijuana bust earlier this year and the growers were given probation. Im just wondering how is that 50,000 dollars is being used? Any ideas Sharyon? Looks like it didnt go to body cameras. Just think CPD a Honda bait car would of been cheaper to set up than the law suit will cost you. Makes me sick telling a tax paying home owner to get her ass back in the house. How about get your ass off the police force and take your mutt with ya! Theres thousands of police brutality videos on youtube. Demand body cameras the public has had enough of police abuse. On the issue of immigration we can expect the police to allow this too happen. Our police are no longer here to protect and serve this logo has been long removed from their patrol cars. Its sad to see his happening in such a small community. Whats your opinion about this matter Bo Rupert?
W.T.F., way to make this a race issue. That has nothing to do with this story. I agree with WouldYouLookAtThat… I have a real hard time believing that a trained police dog would ignore commands and attack a woman for no reason. Sounds to me like she was scared by the dog, so her dog reacted and caused a fight. I will be surprised if it turns out that it was Lobo and not her Chihuahua trying to get out of her arms after the dog fight started.
I have seeN Lobo working and in action. He is well mannered and listens to his handler no matter what is going on. F the body cameras Angelo, have everyone take a lie detector. You will not meet another honest cop like Ramirez. He does more for this community on his days off in one week than most citizens do in a life time.
Hmm… well isn’t that interesting. I smell someone looking for a quick payout.
The question here is when can you shoot a cop or a cops dog. Anothet prime example of no body or dash cameras and a rouge police force that failed to restrain their ‘K-9’ Officer. The fact that the dog was ‘is’ out of control proves that alleged criminal suspects are assaulted by this police dog and the handlers cannot control the police animal when arrests are made by the use of this dog. The home owner would of been within their rights to shoot this police criminal during the assault. The question of when can you shoot a cop or a police dog needs to be acreal issue since these types of incidents are happening.
Sounds like he was trying to lie !! Sue the sht out of C.p.d . Maybe they will start doing the job that they were hired to do,not just let all this mex scum walk around our town!!! Illegal alien,means here illegally fk real hard . If you need anymore help refer to the constitution!!