Woman brutally attacked by Takoma Park Police K-9 in DC brings concerns from DC leaders

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Just a day after FOX 5 DC aired an exclusive story showing a woman being mistakenly attacked by a Takoma Park Police K9, a newly-elected Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner is demanding answers.

After seeing body camera footage of the incident, Evan Yeats, commissioner-elect for ANC 4B01 said "It's horrifying to me. It confirms my worst suspicions about what we thought happened here."

The incident happened on Dec. 4, just after midnight, when Ayanna Brooks was walking her dog alongside her boyfriend, Joseph Burroughs.

Officers were in the area searching for suspected car thieves, when according to police reports, a K9 named Drogo broke free and latched onto Brooks' leg. She's now on crutches with a deep gash that's still healing.

"There's been multiple times that my boyfriend has had to wake me up when I've been sleeping because I've been screaming in my sleep," Brooks said.

"Stuff like that has never happened before this."

Yeats said that in addition to general concerns about how this type of incident could happen in such a densely populated area, he has jurisdictional concerns as well.

Although the incident involved a Takoma Park Police K9, Brooks was bitten near the intersection of Carroll and Maple Avenues, just across the D.C. border.

"I think there needs to be serious conversations about how they operate inside the District of Columbia, especially when things go wrong," said Yeats, adding that he's concerned with how D.C. police handled the incident as well.

"They owe every District resident the protection that they can offer, and it doesn't matter if it's from a police officer or a police dog or somebody else. They should have filed a report and investigated this like any violent crime against a resident of the District of Columbia," said Yeats.

Yeats plans to make his concerns official in January by introducing a resolution, which he said will include letters of inquiry to both DC police and to the city of Takoma Park.

As for Brooks, she's still trying to recover - both physically and emotionally.

"I don't know how to express how I feel after watching it," she said of the body camera footage, which she watched for the first time Friday.

"It's just tough to see, definitely, and it makes me feel emotional for sure."

D.C. police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Takoma Park Police said Friday that they couldn't comment right now, citing an ongoing investigation.