'Terrible Accident': Woman Attacked By K-9 While Taking Out Garbage

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- An innocent woman, just taking out the trash, wound up in the jaws of a police K-9 that refused to let go.

A St. Paul police dog clamped down on 52-year-old Desiree Collins' arm in September.

Officers had been trying to catch two burglars in a nearby break-in.

Collins suffered bites to her arm and leg.

Desiree Collins is still recovering from her injuries from that Saturday morning attack by a St. Paul Police dog.

Speaking through her attorney, Collins says she wants more training for canine officers and their partners and does not want this to happen to another innocent person.

"She was standing on one side of the dumpster and the dog came around the backside," said Andy Noel.

Attorney Andy Noel says Desiree Collins was just taking out the trash when she was attacked by a St. Paul Police Dog.

"She had no warning that it was coming, just completely unforeseeable that something like that could happen," Noel said.

We are able to witness the attack because it was captured by police body cameras.

"You see the whole thing unfold. You see the terror on her face. You see clearly it taking the officers too long to get that dog off of her," Noel said.

Noel believes the officer, Thadeus P. Schmidt, made several mistakes leading up to the attack.

"There were insufficient warnings and just no real control of the dog. The dog was on a 20 foot leash which allowed it to venture into areas where the canine officer didn't know what was there," Noel said.

St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell released a statement saying: "My heart breaks when I watch this video. What happened to Ms. Collins was a terrible accident that should not have occurred. I am sorry it happened and that she was injured. As a department, we wish we could go back and do things differently. Unfortunately, we can't."

"Clearly even just watching this incident there's some things to learn in terms of training for both the canine and the handler I think," said Noel.

Officer Schmidt was suspended from work for one day because of the incident. He and his canine partner went through a monthlong retraining program.

This month, St. Paul will put all of its patrol officers through training that helps them deal with situations where they are paired with a canine officer and his partner.

We're told her injuries are substantial, and she is doing OK as far as the pain goes.

She still has scars on her right arm from the bite wounds but really what she is dealing with is the emotional impact of the attack.