A Sheriff’s Office K-9 bit him. Pierce County paid $20K to settle

TACOMA – Pierce County has paid $20,000 to settle allegations that a sheriff’s office K9 wrongfully bit and injured a man while he was tuning up a vehicle in South Hill, court records show.

Harold Ashworth was changing the oil filter under a Subaru at a friend’s South Hill home in December 2022 when he was attacked by the police dog, Brix, according to a lawsuit filed against Pierce County in April 2024. Ashworth reportedly matched the description of a suspect who was being tracked and wanted in connection to an abandoned stolen Kia, the News Tribune previously reported.

Ashworth was not charged with a crime, according to Pierce County Superior Court records. Attorney David Brown, who formerly represented Ashworth, previously told the News Tribune that his client denied any involvement in the vehicle theft.

Authorities were skeptical.

“Ashworth did a good job of playing off that he was just laying under the car working on it and not involved, that’s why he was not arrested immediately that day,” deputy John Munson, Brix’s handler, wrote in an after-incident report reviewed by the News Tribune.

Brown previously said Ashworth had been “pretty chewed up,” suffered multiple bites on his left arm and had lingering nerve issues. He was also bitten on his left rib cage, according to injury photos provided by Brown’s firm.

The Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, which represents the county in civil litigation, confirmed Wednesday the case had been settled, but did not comment on the claims. The county denied wrongdoing in its court-filed answer to the lawsuit in 2024.

Brown withdrew from representing Ashworth in October. Messages left Wednesday for Ashworth’s current attorney, Doug Weinmaster, were not returned.

The case was declared settled in September, but Weinmaster disputed its validity, court records show. The county’s legal counsel obtained a court order enforcing the agreement in late January and the county paid $20,000 on Feb. 17, according to court records.

Ashworth also sued the county and individual deputies in federal court in December over the K-9 biting. There’s been no movement in that lawsuit since Jan. 13, court records show. It’s unclear exactly how the case might be affected by the state court settlement.