In a Washington case from 2003, an individual had refused to stop for an officer’s flashing light
and ran into the woods. The use of the dog was neither deadly nor excessive force under the circumstances.
In the 45- to 60-second period that the dog bit and held the suspect, the dog had torn
through the suspect’s biceps all the way to the bone. The court held that even though a police dog
can kill a suspect, the possibility is remote and deploying the dog “does not convert otherwise nondeadly
force into deadly force.”