TUCSON, Ariz. — Jose Manuel Marino-Najera was hiding behind brush in the southern Arizona desert with a nearly 50-pound load of marijuana when a U.S. Border Patrol K-9 found him.
He was arrested, but not before the dog bit him in the arm.
More than a year later, after serving time in prison, Marino-Najera is suing the government over what he says are permanent injuries caused by the dog.
His attorney William Risner filed the lawsuit last week in federal court in Tucson.
It alleges muscles in Marino-Najera's arm were severely damaged when the Border Patrol K-9 bit him repeatedly during the arrest.
Risner says agents heard Marino-Najera scream for help after the dog latched on to his arm, but they did nothing to stop the attack.
"These guys, they let him chew on his arm, and he's permanently crippled," the attorney said. Risner said Marino-Najera, who lives in Mexico, was a mason by trade but can no longer lift many objects or do his job.
A Border Patrol spokesman said the agency cannot comment on pending litigation. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Border Patrol's parent agency, relies on trained dogs to sniff drugs and find people at checkpoints, ports of entry and in the field.
