LAKEWOOD, Colo. — Editor's Note: This story contains medically-graphic images.
A Lakewood man filed a federal lawsuit Friday against the Lakewood Police Department alleging a police K9 "viciously attacked and nearly killed" him last year.
Spencer Erickson's lawsuit claims the police dog bit his neck repeatedly leaving him with deep and potentially fatal cuts near his jugular vein.
"If these would have been mere millimeters deeper, Mr. Erickson would be dead," suggested the lawsuit.
Lakewood Police responded to an apartment on W. Hampden Ave. on September 21, 2018, after receiving a 911 call from Erickson's roommate.
"She told them that Mr. Erickson, who had been her roommate for three months, had created a hole in the attic and was possibly in the crawlspace," according to the lawsuit.
She also reported, "he had consumed some vodka and that he may have smoked marijuana at some point in the previous three hours."
Erickson was 25-years-old at the time and had three outstanding arrest warrants for DUI and criminal mischief cases.
Six Lakewood officers and a K9 responded to the scene, the lawsuit says.
After trying to call Erickson on his cell phone and ordering him to "come out with his hands up," the lawsuit suggests the Lakewood police officers decided to let the K9 search for Erickson in the apartment.
The lawsuit alleges the dog used that night had previously bit a Lakewood Police officer leaving the officer "out of work for a month."
The dog, according to the lawsuit, found Erickson "sleeping in his bedroom" when it attacked.
9Wants to Know contacted a spokesperson for Lakewood Police who declined comment due to pending litigation.
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