UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS March 19, 2025

Christopher M. Wolpert FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT Clerk of Court _________________________________

TYLER LUETHJE,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

v. No. 24-1257

TRAVIS KYLE; SCOTT KELLY,

Defendants - Appellants. _________________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Colorado (D.C. No. 1:23-CV-03054-CNS-MEH) _________________________________ Andrew C. Steers, Douglas County Attorney’s Office, Castle Rock, Colorado (W. Casey Brown on the briefs) for Defendants – Appellants. Zachary L. Schiffler, Civil Rights Litigation Group, LLP, Denver, Colorado (Raymond K. Bryant with him on the brief) for Plaintiff – Appellee. _________________________________ Before MATHESON, PHILLIPS, and McHUGH, Circuit Judges. _________________________________ McHUGH, Circuit Judge. _________________________________

This is an interlocutory appeal of the denial of Defendant-Appellants Travis Kyle and Scott Kelly’s motion to dismiss Plaintiff-Appellee Tyler Luethje’s § 1983 complaint based on qualified immunity. Mr. Kyle is a canine handler employed by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, while Mr. Kelly is a Sheriff’s Deputy employed Appellate Case: 24-1257 Document: 45 Date Filed: 03/19/2025 Page: 2

by the same office. Mr. Luethje’s complaint alleges that on the evening of February 11, 2022, he was lying in bed at home when a police canine named Sig burst through his bedroom door and latched onto his left arm. Mr. Kyle and Mr. Kelly (“the deputies”) were responding to a 911 call reporting that an unidentified male had approached Mr. Luethje’s residence, broken the front window, and fled. The deputies, upon reaching the house and seeing the broken window, pushed Sig into the residence to bite the first person he encountered. After Sig found and latched onto Mr. Luethje, the deputies entered his bedroom and questioned him for over one minute while Sig continued to bite his arm. The deputies then called Sig off, ordered Mr. Luethje out of bed, handcuffed him, and placed him under arrest. Paramedics arrived and transported Mr. Luethje to the hospital, where he was treated for several lacerations and puncture wounds. Mr. Luethje was not charged with any crime.

Mr. Luethje sued Mr. Kyle and Mr. Kelly under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, asserting claims under the Fourth Amendment for (1) unlawful entry and search of his home, (2) unlawful arrest, and (3) unlawful use of excessive force. He also brought a failure to intervene claim against Mr. Kelly. The deputies moved to dismiss, arguing they were entitled to qualified immunity on each claim. The district court disagreed, holding that for each claim, the deputies had violated Mr. Luethje’s constitutional rights and that the law establishing those rights was clearly established.

For the reasons explained below, we agree that Mr. Kyle and Mr. Kelly were not entitled to qualified immunity on any claim. Accordingly, we affirm.

2 Appellate Case: 24-1257 Document: 45 Date Filed: 03/19/2025 Page: 3

I. BACKGROUND

A. Facts

Mr. Luethje alleges as follows in the operative amended complaint.1 On February 11, 2022, at approximately 6:40 p.m., a neighbor called 911 and reported seeing a male break the front window of Mr. Luethje’s residence. The caller could not provide a description of the male. Mr. Kelly, a Douglas County Sheriff