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Beyond the Byline: Reynold Derenfeld was a Hall of Famer

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Editor’s Comments: Striking a balance between clicks and civics

<p>SCRANTON &#8212; A Wilkes-Barre Police officer voluntarily withdrew from a civil case pending in federal court over an alleged attack by the city&#8217;s K9 dog.</p><p>U.S. District Judge Robert Mariani Monday dismissed Officer Shane Smith as a plaintiff in the suit against the city and city officials. Attorneys in the case asked the judge to issue an order after they agreed to the withdrawal.</p><p>Smith, the second city police officer to join the suit, said he no longer wished to participate in it, the attorneys said. Smith&#8217;s exit leaves Joshua Fought of Berwick and officer Anthony Falcone and his wife Kaitlyn of Wilkes-Barre as plaintiffs.</p><p>Judge Mariani reinstated the complaint that Fought and the Falcones filed prior to Smith joining them in December. The judge also set a deadline of 21 days for the plaintiffs attorneys to respond to the defendants&#8217; motion for dismissal of the suit.</p><p>Fought alleged a lack of training led to his attack by K9 dog Chase on Public Square in July 2017. His suit was first amended last year to include Falcone and his wife after the dog bit the officer while he was on duty in December 2017. It was amended again to include the attack on Smith in September 2018 while on duty.</p><p>Mayor Tony George took the dog out of service and directed that it be evaluated to determine if it was suitable for duty. The mayor reinstated the dog last July, but Chase was temporarily taken out of service after the attack on Smith. The city conducted an internal investigation and found no departmental violations. However, the department recommended platoon officers undergo training on how to interact with the city&#8217;s K9 dogs.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">A Wilkes-Barre police officer withdrew from a federal lawsuit alleging the lack of training by the city's K9 dog Chase led to attacks on him and two others, including another city officer. 

</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_Chase-K9-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>A Wilkes-Barre police officer withdrew from a federal lawsuit alleging the lack of training by the city's K9 dog Chase led to attacks on him and two others, including another city officer. 

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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jerry Lynott</p><p>jlynott@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLNews</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Officer withdraws from K9 attack civil suit