INDIANAPOLIS - The Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled an Anderson man can sue the city after a police dog inflicted severe injuries to his genitals.

Marquis Dayvon Brooks was with a friend at a teen nightclub early on Dec. 24, 2006, when shots rang out.

Although the teens were not involved in the shooting, when they drove away, they were pursued by an Anderson police officer, prompting a high-speed chase that ended when Brooks struck the side of a house.

Brooks ran off and was hiding in a nearby shed when police used a K-9 to find him.

Although Brooks said he was lying down and had already said he would surrender, he claimed the police officer ordered the K-9 to apprehend him, causing a severe laceration to his scrotum.

"The dog immediately grabbed me, and I was in there tussling around with the dogs [sic]. So Officer Barnett, he comes up, pushed me down, punched me, and then two more officers come up, grab me, hold me down, and that's when the dog, he had came up and bit me on my arm," Brooks described in his appeal. "And then I said, 'Get the dog off of me. Get the dog off of me. I give up. I give up.' They held me down, and that's when the dog came and bit me in my testicles."

Brooks brought suit against the city, the police department and the police officer who was in control of the police dog.

A trial court ruled against Brooks, but the Indiana Court of Appeals overturned the ruling, citing questions about the apprehension.

"There are many genuine issues of material fact, including whether this young man was already secured when the police dog was permitted to bite him again, causing the severe laceration to his scrotum," the ruling read.

Brooks admitted to drinking while underage, smoking marijuana and driving without a license on the night of the pursuit, but the court said he is entitled to know "whether the consequences he endured as the result of his unwise choices exceeded the bounds of the law."