A Portland man has filed a $1.3 million federal lawsuit against Portland police and the U.S. Marshal's Service, contending their officers used excessive force against him, knocking him to the ground at gunpoint and shooting him twice with a Taser before letting a city police dog loose on him.



At it turned out, the man officers stopped, Yosef Baltyansky, then 34, wasn't the fugitive they were looking for: 21-year-old Joseph Thompson, who was wanted for violating parole after convictions for stabbing his girlfriend and attempting to stab a city police dog.



Baltyansky underwent surgery for multiple dog bites, and suffered nerve damage.



"Plaintiff continues to suffer emotional distress and trauma to this day as a result of the law enforcement officers' outrageous conduct," attorney Abraham J. Barnett wrote in the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court on Tuesday.



The suit alleges police and federal marshals violated Baltyansky's civil rights and used excessive force without due process of law. It also contends the city of Portland and the U.S. Marshal's office failed to adequately train and supervise its officers.



Portland Deputy City Attorney Dave Woboril said his office hasn't seen the lawsuit and could not comment.



The suit stems from Baltyansky's encounter with police and federal marshals on Oct. 31, 2008.



An officer saw Baltyansky walking down the street on Southeast Division Street, near 154th Avenue, got out of his car, and walked up to Baltyansky with his firearm drawn and ordered him to stop.



According to the plaintiff, Baltyansky stopped. The officer then ordered him to get down on his knees, and place his hands on his head. While Baltyansky was on his knees with his hands on his head, facing away from the officer as ordered, another officer is accused of tackling Baltyansky, pushing his face to the ground. While the second officer was pushing on his face, a third officer "got a running start and also jumped on plaintiff," the lawsuit says.



While two officers were on top of the man, an officer fired his Taser at Baltyansky, hitting him in the shoulder, then in the back, the suit said. Then Portland police canine Officer Ryan Hilsenteger set his police dog on Baltyansky.



The dog bit the side of Baltyansky's body, and then bit his knee multiple times until his knee joint was torn open, the suit said.



"After the police dog had attacked plaintiff, the (law enforcement officers) placed handcuffs on Plaintiff before realizing that plaintiff was not a wanted police suspect, but an innocent civilian," Barnett wrote in the lawsuit.



Lt. Kelli Sheffer, Portland police spokeswoman, said the dog was unleashed because police, assisting the federal officers, were trying to make an arrest.



"He was not complying with our officers' requests," Sheffer said.



The lawsuit contends Baltyansky was compliant and seeks $625,380 in non-economic damages, $49,929 for medical expenses, and $312,690 in punitive damages.



The usual two-year statute of limitations in this case was waived as the plaintiff's attorney was in consultation with employees of the city's risk management office.



Thompson, the fugitive wanted by police, had been convicted for a Jan. 12, 2008 assault against his girlfriend. He had punched her multiple times and then slashed her with a knife before running off. Police located him a short time later, and fired Tasers at him when he refused to drop his knife. Portland Officer Raymond Turney also released his dog, "Munson" at Thompson that day. The dog took Thompson down, but Thompson tried stabbing the dog with his knife multiple times.



Thompson was convicted of the Class C felony, attempted assault on a law enforcement animal.



Baltyansky, who was walking to or from a neighborhood grocery when the incident occurred, has no criminal record.



Maxine Bernstein



