FORT WORTH, TX — A Fort Worth woman says she was attacked by a police K-9 outside her home in April and is still waiting for answers about why officers were in her neighborhood and what led the dog to bite her. Regina Allen says she was trying to alert officers about an elderly neighbor when the dog knocked her to the ground and bit her before anyone could pull it away.
Nearly five months later, the basic facts remain clouded by heavy redactions in public records and a city refusal to release video of the encounter. Allen, her family, and their attorney say the silence matters because she is left with serious injuries while the public still does not know what police were doing on Purington Avenue or whether an arrest was made.
Allen says she was trying to help a neighbor when the dog struck
Allen, who is a mother and grandmother, said she was outside her home on April 12 when she moved to tell officers about an elderly neighbor’s mental condition. She said she was almost inside when the K-9 lunged at her. According to Allen, she raised her arms and the dog took her to the ground before officers could stop it.
She said she screamed for help as the dog held on, and she remembered the handler trying commands without success. Her husband, Thomas Fisher, said he and their son helped officers try to break the dog’s grip. Fisher described Allen as bleeding badly on the ground while the incident was still unfolding.
Hospital treatment left Allen with stitches, puncture wounds and a fast return home
Allen was taken to a hospital with nine puncture wounds, according to the family. She said she received 19 stitches, but the treatment did not end the pain or the shock of what happened. Allen said that when she looked at her injuries, she could see that the wounds were severe and unsettling.
The family says the physical damage was immediate and obvious. Allen returned to the hospital within days after leaving, underscoring how serious the bite injuries were. The account from Allen and Fisher presents the encounter not as a brief scare, but as a violent event with lasting effects that has remained unresolved.
Police records confirm a K-9 incident but hide most of the details
An open records request to the Fort Worth Police Department produced nearly nine pages of blacked-out material tied to the case. One unredacted officer note says, “The K-9 broke free” and “The K-9 bit.” Beyond that, much of the paperwork describing the victim and the events around her is obscured.
CBS News Texas also found that video footage of the incident exists, but the department declined to release it to the public. The redactions and withheld video have fueled frustration for Allen’s family, which says the city has confirmed enough to show something happened but not enough to explain why it happened or who was responsible.
City and state review process keeps the video from public view
The department has relied on Texas evidentiary protections that many law enforcement agencies use to shield footage, documents and other material from public release. Those materials are then reviewed by the Texas Attorney General’s Office, which often sides with law enforcement even when members of the public seek access.
That process has left Allen’s family without the video they believe could answer the key questions. The police department has not said why officers were in the neighborhood in the first place, and it has also not disclosed whether there was an arrest connected to the incident. For Allen and her attorney, that lack of transparency is part of the harm.
Family and lawyer say accountability starts with admitting what happened
Attorney Blerim Elmazi said the family believes accountability begins with a clear acknowledgment from the city and police about the encounter. He argued that when officers or a city do something wrong, they should be willing to say so. The family’s position is that the case cannot move toward closure until the basic facts are publicly addressed.
Allen said the lasting memory is not the paperwork but the physical terror of the moment. “I saw a flash of fur, and next thing I know I was on the ground,” she said. Her account, together with the redacted records, leaves a central question unanswered: how a bystander outside her own home ended up injured by a police dog while trying to speak to officers.
Months later, the unanswered questions still center on the officers’ purpose that day
The core unknowns have not changed since the April encounter. Police have not explained why officers were on Purington Avenue, what investigation they were conducting, or whether Allen was in any way the subject of police action. The family says those gaps matter because they shape whether the bite was a tragic accident, a mistaken release, or something else entirely.
For now, the public record shows only fragments: a woman badly hurt, a dog that bit her, and a city withholding much of the evidence. Allen’s family says the lack of information makes the case feel unfinished, even as her wounds and recovery remain real. They want the city to explain what happened and why.
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