Wilmington settles with chase suspect bitten by K-9

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The City of Wilmington has agreed to settle with a man bitten by a police dog following a chase.

After a closed session this morning, City Council voted unanimously to authorize the settlement of $82,500 to Johnnie Lamont Williams. The city confirms council made this decision in hopes of avoiding more lawsuits.

On Halloween Night 2013, Williams allegedly drove through a DWI checkpoint almost running over an officer and leading police on a chase through the northern part of the county. When officers were finally able to stop his car, video of the incident shows it appears Williams had his hands up, but Ofc. Stafford Brister sent his K9 into the car anyway.

Williams was treated for dog bites.

A grand jury declined to indict Brister in the incident, and while he later returned to work, though not as a K9 officer, Brister retired from WPD last fall.

We asked Brister about his thoughts on the settlement.

“I was surprised,” Brister told WWAY by phone, “and I guess that crime really does pay.”

As part of the agreement. Williams agreed to release the City of Wilmington and Brister from all liability.

“We took it under advisement based on the recommendation of our city attorney. He had obtained a settlement from the insurance carrier for the city and we decided that going to trial would cost a lot more money than just putting it behind us and moving on,” Mayor Bill Saffo said of the settlement.

Williams has been in trouble since the incident, though. It was discovered he had outstanding charges of attempted murder in South Carolina after allegedly trying to avoid a traffic stop there.

Last summer, Wilmington donated the K-9 involved in the bite incident to the Town of Fair Bluff.