Cops Want Prisoner’s Blood … To Be Tested

For the second time in six months, Dennis P. Morency will give blood.

This time, he’ll give it to a nurse, not a police dog.

On Thursday, a Kootenai County judge ordered the inmate to allow his blood to be tested for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Morency said he’s four days into a hunger strike to protest the way his blood was drawn the first time - by a Kootenai County sheriff’s dog named Enno.

Enno bit Morency on the head and an arm last December after the 45-year-old suspected burglar from Coeur d’Alene repeatedly had refused to surrender to police after he had been discovered hiding in an attic. Morency was charged with burglary and theft.

County officials asked for the HIV test after Morency bled on several officers during his arrest.

With diseases such as AIDS and hepatitis, sheriff’s officials say they’re becoming increasingly cautious about the way they handle the public.

Whether they’re giving mouth-tomouth resuscitation to an accident victim or arresting a bleeding criminal, officers often are in physical contact with people.

“Most of our officers have families, and they don’t want to take any communicable diseases back to them,” said Lt. Jeff Thomas.

That risk cropped up during Morency’s arrest.

On Dec. 18, officers surrounded Pub 41 in Post Falls after a silent burglary alarm had gone off. A sheriff’s deputy repeatedly ordered Morency to come out of the crawl space in the attic where he was hiding.

Morency repeatedly refused, said Sgt. Ray Danly.

After telling Morency they would send in a dog and warning him the animal would bite, deputy Darrell Stidham sent in Enno.

Morency hit and kicked Enno as the dog bit him on the head and an arm, Danly said.

Morency’s scalp was bloody when deputies arrested him. Officers below the attic where the scuffle took place were showered with a mixture of blood and insulation, according to court records.

“We probably all got a little blood on us,” Danly said.

Kootenai County Deputy Prosecutor Lansing Haynes said a blood test seems like a good idea - especially considering that court testimony indicated Morency had a history of drug use.

Thomas said officers try to take extra precautions, hoping to protect themselves from such dangers. They often wear rubber or waterproofed leather gloves.

Deputies carry alcohol swabs in their cars to quickly wipe away any dangerous fluid they contact.

“When I started 19 years ago, we didn’t have near the worry,” Thomas said. “It would not have been unusual to do mouth-to-mouth on a person without protection.”

Now it’s against department policy except in an extreme emergency, Thomas said.

Meanwhile, Morency insists, “This is something that shouldn’t have happened. The dog was chewing my head off.”

Although he agreed to the blood test, the inmate said he wants charges filed against Stidham and his dog for excessive force. He claims he started his hunger strike Sunday. “If it takes me starving right to death, that’s what I’ll do.”

Sgt. Dan Soumas said the whole incident wouldn’t have happened if Morency would have surrendered as requested. Soumas investigated Morency’s complaint and determined that Stidham did his job correctly.

Lt. Jeraldine Riggs, jail commander, said she’s not too worried about Morency starving to death.

In the last three weeks, he’s spent almost $20 buying commissary items such as candy bars.

“With all the goodies he’s bought, I would say he’s in good shape,” Riggs said.

And jail records show that Morency hasn’t exactly been strict with his starvation diet, Riggs said. Her records show he ate breakfast and lunch on Wednesday.