A police department in southern Ohio is under scrutiny for a 1:49-minute clip that shows one of the dogs from its K-9 unit viciously mauling a Black man despite the man complying with officer orders.
The footage, newly released by the Ohio State Highway Patrol, also captures one on-site officer instructing a police responder not to release the dog, and that command being ignored.
The suspect was a Black trucker authorities say attempted to evade law enforcement by taking them on a high-speed chase across three counties on the Fourth of July. After passing Jackson, Ross, and Pickaway counties, the chase ended on a highway, where the trucker, walking alongside the median, was told to put his hands in the air, according to the Scioto Valley Guardian.
At this point, Officer Ryan Speakman of the Circleville Police Department K-9 unit arrives at the scene with a police dog named Serg and escalates the situation within seconds.
A scene supervisor repeatedly tells Speakman not to release the dog, saying that the suspect is complying and has his hands up.
“Do not release the dog with his hands up,” he shouts.
Speakman is heard addressing the motorist as if he is not complying and then commands Serg to attack, yelling “Get your a– on the ground or you’re going to get bit!”
At the same time, a trooper tells the driver, “Come to me; you don’t want [to be] bit, come to me, man.”
The confused truck driver sinks to the ground with his hands up, at which Speakman shouts the command “stellen” — “bite” in Dutch — to the Belgian Malinois shepherd, signaling him to attack.
The video shows the man being dragged and mutilated by the animal.
“Get the dog off him!” the supervisor yells.
The injury appears to be so severe a female trooper covers her face as she walks away.
The other troopers call out to stop the attack, and eventually, Speakman pulls the dog off the driver.
Once the dog is removed, the troopers administer aid and an ambulance later takes him to a hospital.
Reports show the driver was released from doctors’ care and is currently behind bars, facing charges for making the officers chase him.
After the release of the video, international outrage sparked across social media.
“When your own cops in Ohio are telling you to not release the dogs while the subject’s hands are raised, you know you’ve gone too far,” one person tweeted.
“The cops are giving conflicting orders to ‘come to me with your hands up’ and ‘get on the ground’… either way there was absolutely no reason to release the dog,” another commented.
“The officer who released the dog should be fired and his pension should be revoked. He should be prosecuted for assault, battery, and torture under color of law,” another person wrote.
CPD officials did not release a statement on the mauling but said an internal investigation was launched into the incident and ruled that Speakman did not use excessive force during the incident.
The Highway Patrol has referred all questions about the incident to the CPD.
