Legal Question in Personal Injury in California
We would really appreciate your advice on the situation we got into with our dog. I parked my van in front of my house and took dog from the back of the van. I hold him on a leash when he jumped out of van. Unfortunately, a man was walking by and when our dog jumped out, the man started hitting him with newspaper in the face. Our dog is a very kind, friendly and loves people. He is not aggressive at all. The man started yelling:"Your dog bite me". I said that it is not true. Then man started walking toward me waiving his hands and trying to further provoke dog. At all times I held dog on a short leash. I told the man to step back away from the dog, but he kept moving forward until I opened the gate of my house and let the dog in. The man approached the gate keeping telling that dog bite him. He pulled his pants down and removed his underwear to show me that he was bitten. He was half naked standing his back pointing school (our house is in front of school) where children were playing in the front yard. I asked him to put his clothe on, which he refused to do. Therefore, I called 911. When police arrived, man was asking for money. He said that he needs to go to hospital, but he doesn't have money and pointed to me that I do. Then police called ambulance and man was taken to the hospital. I do have a copy of the police report. The police report says that dog was on a leash, that man hit dog with newspaper, that man asked for money and that man has small puncture wound on his tight. I am not sure where this wound came from, but police made picture of a very tiny puncture. Please note that we have big dog and if this kind of dog bites it will not be small puncture. The reason for contacting you is because we received letter from man's attorney asking to provide liability insurance information. The letter states that incident is "Unprovoked dog bite". This is not true (police report supports it) and I believe that I probably have more rights to sue the man for abusing our dog and standing naked in front of our house, then he does to sue me. It appears that man was waiting for us to provoke dog in order to gain money. I am not sure what to do. Your help and advice are greatly appreciated.
3 Answers from Attorneys
Very likely you will never hear from this man again. He sounds crzay, and no one would believe him. If you sue him,you will not likely ever collect any money.
Turn it over to your homeowner's insurance carrier. They will have a field day with these facts.
If the facts as you state them are accurate, then you should turn a copy of that letter along with the police report over to your homeowner's insurance carrier, as they would be obligated to respond to that letter, and if in fact you are sued, they would have to defend you.
BARRY BESSER
www.besserlaw.com
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