Deputy handler and K-9 have been returned to duty after California police authorities claimed the newly-released footage of the canine attacking an innocent man showed it was accidental.

The Kern County Sheriff’s Offices (KCSO) located in the US state of California released video footage of the incident which showed how the K-9, a Belgian Malinois identified as Victor, attacked a prone man while laying on the ground on 9th May.

Police authorities later reported the injured man was not involved in the crime and temporarily removed both the deputy and Victor from patrol work while the case was under review.

However, commenting the footage, KCSO officials elaborated that Victor was “inadvertently” released by the handler, after which they were brought back to work despite an administrative investigation still being underway.

On the day of the incident, a driver of a reportedly stolen vehicle was forced on the ground by three deputies on the 5900 block of Wright Avenue.

Another deputy then accidentally released Victor that latched onto the man and savagely bit him, which initiated a blood stream down his right arm.

The moment the canine got loose, the deputy who opened the patrol car door can be heard saying: “Oh, s**t, my bad.”

The handler took over 20 seconds while desperately trying to pull the dog off the man, after which he had to use a tool to open the dog’s jaws and let the innocent man go.

KCSO officials reported that the K9 had also injured the victim’s left arm during the incident, however, he was only treated for “minor injuries” in the hospital.

Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood held a press conference to discuss the video on Thursday and said: “It’s one we’re not proud of.”

He then added: “These are dogs, and sometimes we have a lot of chaos. The dog gets confused. It appears that that happened here.”

Youngblood also emphasised that according to the Critical Incident Review Board’s decision on 13th July, the incident was determined to be an accident since it was not considered a use of force as defined by law.

According to him, an administrative investigation will still be underway to determine whether any policies need to be changed or were violated.

He said: “If we need to change our policy or if we need to retrain people on how to do car stops, we are open to all that.”

As a comparison, a woman who was attacked by a Kern County Sheriff’s Office K-9 at a restaurant and suffered major bite wounds to her leg was awarded a USD 2 million settlement in 2016.