Pierce County quietly paid $20,000 to settle a lawsuit after a Pierce County Sheriff’s Office K‑9 bit a man who says he was working under his car in the South Hill area in December 2022. The man, identified in court filings as Harold Ashworth, was never charged in connection with the incident, but later sued the county and several deputies. In his legal filings and statements, he says the dog, identified as K‑9 Brix, left multiple bite wounds on his left arm and left rib cage.
Records show the payout
Public county documents show that a $20,000 settlement was recorded on Feb. 17, 2026. According to Pierce County records, the payment appears as the resolution of a law-enforcement claim tied to the K‑9 incident.
The federal lawsuit and county response
As reported by The News Tribune, Ashworth filed a federal lawsuit in 2024 against Pierce County and individual deputies. He alleges deputies failed to control the K‑9 and that the dog entered private property before biting him. The filings name the dog as Brix and lay out the injuries Ashworth says he suffered. County attorneys, in their formal answer, denied wrongdoing.
How this payout compares
The $20,000 payment is relatively small compared with other K‑9 settlements in the area. Earlier this year, a separate $100,000 settlement was reported in a different Pierce County K‑9 case, and The Seattle Times has documented years of costly claims and legal battles over police K‑9 deployments.
Legal context
Court rulings generally treat K‑9 bites as a significant use of force, which is why many disputes over deployments end up in federal court and turn on whether deputies took reasonable steps to prevent or stop a bite. The county’s recorded payment appears to resolve this particular claim, and the public filings do not include any admission of liability.
The settlement closes one chapter in a series of K‑9 related legal troubles for agencies in Pierce County, while broader questions about training and oversight linger. Advocates and attorneys say these cases keep fueling calls for clearer policies and closer supervision of how deputies use K‑9s in the field.
