San Francisco 49ers tight end Delanie Walker, a Morgan Hill
resident, has been sued by the pool service man who was repeatedly
attacked by one of the football player’s pit bulls.
San Francisco 49ers tight end Delanie Walker, a Morgan Hill resident, has been sued by the pool service man who was repeatedly attacked by one of the football player’s pit bulls.
Rick Ellis, 61 of Gilroy, was attacked at Walker’s home in northeast Morgan Hill when he arrived to clean the swimming pool March 23.
Police said Walker’s two pit bulls charged at Ellis shortly after he entered the property, with Walker’s permission, and the larger of the dogs bit Ellis multiple times on his right wrist and forearm, left thigh, lower buttocks and fingers on both hands.
He had to climb inside the cab of a pickup truck in the driveway in order to escape the attacking dog at Walker’s house, police said.
Ellis filed a personal injury lawsuit against Walker in Santa Clara County Superior Court Aug. 31. The claim says Ellis has suffered monetary damages due to injuries he received in the dog attack, in the form of lost wages, medical expenses, general damage and loss of earning capacity, the claim says.
The amount of damages is not specified.
“We’re going to let the jury decide what’s appropriate for damages,” said Ellis’ attorney Rick Alexander. “Mr. Ellis not only has suffered the wounds, but scars and a disability that is going to be with him forever – let alone the stress of having been attacked by these dogs.”
Included among Ellis injuries is “neurological damage,” Alexander added.
Also named as a defendant in the lawsuit is James Zubillaga, the owner of the residential property that Walker leases and where the 49er housed his dogs prior to the alleged attack on Ellis. Zubillaga could not be reached for comment before press time. A phone call to Walker’s attorney, Joshua Bentley, was not returned.
The complaint also notes that Walker’s neighbors have complained numerous times about the 49er allowing the dogs to run around the neighborhood “harassing, threatening, charging and attacking” other residents, and an animal control officer.
Walker faces criminal charges in relation to the biting incident, and other violations of Morgan Hill’s animal codes.
After the attack on Ellis, the dog who bit him – Yak – was classified as a “level two” potentially dangerous dog, police said. That classification required the dog to be locked up in home quarantine for 10 days, and after that the dog had to be restrained on the property at all times.
Walker’s home is surrounded by a gate, but the city ordinance says a level two dog has to be further restrained within the property.
Prior to the incident in which Ellis was attacked, neighbors and police had repeated problems with both dogs, which have been seen several times running loose through the neighborhood. Walker has been charged with allowing his dogs to run at large in relation a Feb. 25 incident in which both pit bulls were seen roaming the neighborhood and threatening residents, according to deputy city attorney Jefferson Billingsley.
Walker pleaded not guilty to crime in the Feb. incident, and has not yet been charged with the dog-bite incident, Billingsley said. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of six months in county jail or a $1,000 fine.
Furthermore, since the pit bull who allegedly attacked Ellis obtained the level two classification, it has been “tentatively” classified as a “level three” dangerous dog, Morgan Hill Police Cmdr. David Swing said. The city ordinance says that dogs that reach this highest classification must be surrendered to the city to be euthanized, but Walker has not yet been notified of the level three label, Swing added.
The dog obtained level three status after further investigation of the incident in which Ellis was attacked, and another incident following the attack in which it was seen off the property and “acting aggressively” toward Walker’s neighbors, Swing said. That was reported after the dog-bite incident.
Prior to the attack on Ellis, neighbors repeatedly complained about Walker’s dogs running loose up and down the street.
Since mid-July, both dogs have been housed in a professional kennel somewhere outside the city.
“The best thing about all this is, as we work through this process, the community is safe,” Swing said. “And the dogs are not potentially causing harm to anyone.”
