It appears the owners of a dog that attacked Winnebago’s K9 officer and injured the police chief will not face charges.
“I’ve been told I won’t be charged with anything,” says Scott Reisenbigler. “We have a meeting with the council on Tuesday.”
On April 11, Police Chief Eric Olson was walking his dog Jack when Reisenbigler’s pitbull mixture broke loose from its handler.
Following a special City Council meeting April 24 in which the dog was declared dangerous and ordered euthanized, an investigation was conducted by the Faribault County Sheriff’s Department.
The results of the investigation were then submitted the City Attorney David Frundt.
“The matter was turned over to the county attorney’s office for criminal investigation due to the victim being Chief Olson and it being a conflict of interest as a result,” says Frundt.
County Attorney Kathryn Karjala refused to comment on the matter when contacted last Thursday.
At the special meeting, Mayor Jeremiah Schutt couldn’t recall how city officials handled a previous dog-biting incident.
“From what I’ve been told about the case, the dog was voluntarily put down following its 10-day quarantine. Therefore, there was no need for a public hearing to deem it a dangerous dog,” says Jake Skluzacek, city administrator.
According to court documents, a 14-year-old boy sustained puncture wounds and bruising to his right upper arm when he was bitten in June 2017.
A civil suit was filed and the case was settled in April 2019 when State Farm Insurance agreed to pay the plaintiff a sum of $9,500.