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Terrell Bradley seeks settlement from City of Gainesville after K9 mauling left him with more than $250,000 in medical debt

Terrell Bradley sustained severe injuries from a Gainesville Police K9: a lost eye, two broken fingers, twelve stitches near his temple and spinal leakage. (Katie Hyson/WUFT News)
Terrell Bradley sustained severe injuries from a Gainesville Police K9: a lost eye, two broken fingers, twelve stitches near his temple and spinal leakage. (Katie Hyson/WUFT News)

Terrell Bradley's lawyer, Gregory Durden, sent a letter Tuesday to Gainesville City Manager Cynthia Curry seeking a financial settlement discussion with city staff.

The July 2022 police K9 mauling took Bradley's right eye and left him with with broken bones and spinal fluid leakage. Bradley had run from a traffic stop and was hiding unarmed in the bushes for almost an hour before the attack. Officers called in the K9 to search for Bradley after they found a 12-year-old felony conviction on his record and a gun in the car he was driving.

Bradley's injuries were so severe, medical staff airlifted him to Tampa General Hospital. According to the letter, the treatment left Bradley – who was uninsured – with more than a quarter-million dollars in medical debt.

"There is [not] nor can there be any justification for the harm caused to my client for allegedly failing to stop at an intersection," Durden wrote.

The letter also cites behavior that later resulted in sustained misconduct allegations against five officers.

"Adding insult to his injury," Durden wrote, "one of the officers at the scene took photographs of his injuries and circulated them to other Gainesville police officers, as if the [loss] of his eye was something to brag about."

Durden labeled false the statements of Chief Lonnie Scott and an outside agency that there were no policy violations in Bradley's arrest.

Curry referred the matter to the Office of the City Attorney and the Office of Risk Management for review.

The City is already facing a civil suit over alleged racism on the K9 unit, which was filed by former K9 officer Edward Ratliff and is scheduled for a hearing in April.

The City reinstated the unit last week after a monthlong hiatus to address staff restructuring.

The next hearing for Bradley, who faces felony charges for running from the traffic stop and the gun found in the car, is scheduled for March 14.

Katie Hyson was a Report for America Corps Member at WUFT News from 2021 to 2023. She now works for KPBS in San Diego.