Judge throws out resisting arrest case against Alabama man attacked by police K9 on his porch

An Alabama judge on Tuesday dismissed resisting arrest charges against an Alabama man who was attacked on his front porch by a police dog four years ago.

Following the attack, Marvin Eugene Long, 57, of Sheffield, filed a federal lawsuit against 10 Sheffield police officers. That lawsuit remains pending.

Colbert County Circuit Court Judge Mitchell D. Hays threw out the resisting arrest charge against Long when the trial began Tuesday.

“The city failed to meet their burden of proof,” Hays’ order dismissing the case stated.

Long was earlier found not guilty of a related obstruction charge by a Sheffield city judge.

Long claims Sheffield officers assaulted him and arrested him without probable cause.

A drug task force staffed by Sheffield police and Colbert County deputies was executing a raid at a nearby home on June 17, 2021 when Long, who was unarmed, went outside to see why a police cruiser was parked outside his property, according to Long’s lawyers.

Officers approach Long and ask whether the porch he was standing on was in fact his property, according to bodycam footage obtained by the attorneys.

“Go, man,” Long, 53, tells the officers before two grab and subdue him.

“What are you doing, bro?” Long asks in the video.

“You must think we’re f—— stupid,” one of the officers says as Long screams for help, according to the footage.

During the attack, one officer is heard ordering the dog to “bite him” and shouting “you’re resisting” as Long screams for help.

After he was released from jail, Long went to the hospital for treatment of the dog bite wound on his left leg, a knot on his head and back pain, according to the lawsuit. The federal lawsuit claims Long suffered the head and back injuries when police took him to the ground.

Long continues to suffer as a result of the attack, the lawsuit said, including PTSD-like symptoms.

The lawsuit seeks compensatory damages that include medical bills as well as punitive and other damages.