Officer releases dog on "hands up" suspect

ohioboy

Well-known Member
Location
Ohio
This happened in Circleville, South of Columbus. Of course, and rightfully so, a major lawsuit will be forthcoming! You hear the Highway patrolman telling the Circleville officer to not release the dog. If the timing was quicker he may have thought of yelling such as, "If you release the dog, I will have to shoot it".

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crim...-dog-attacks-surrendering-suspect/ar-AA1eiV0t
 

That may have been a questionable arrest??
If in fact the highway patrolman's body cam showed the officer releasing the K9 to attack a surrendering suspect, I'd say no. Also, what the highway patrolman witnessed would of course justify an arrest.

Now, the relationship between the Ohio State Highway Patrol and the Circleville PD might become a bit awkward and strained, but these things happen. In my county there have been incidents where the Highway Patrol has ticketed, even arrested on duty County Sheriff's deputies. I'm sure the SO has done the same for the CHP. It happens.
 
If in fact the highway patrolman's body cam showed the officer releasing the K9 to attack a surrendering suspect, I'd say no. Also, what the highway patrolman witnessed would of course justify an arrest.
Although I can think of a "possible" PC element for a warrantless arrest, there would be no need. An arrest could come later with a signed warrant, stating the charged crime etc., why risk a legal battle.
 
The only practical on scene charge would be some type of Assault element. Since it was in the performance of duty, (questionably), that creates a fine line. Ohio does have a criminal Deprivation of Civil Rights violation section like the feds, however that is better adjudicated by an arrest warrant. On scene arrest would raise too many legal facts.
 
I saw the video on the national news and it’s horrible. I hope the offending officer is fired. The truck driver called 911 asking for help before he got out of the truck. Being black he was rightfully concerned about being stopped by the police.
 
First rule of dealing with the police is don't lead them on a car chase. Total cooperation prevents them from having the mindset to use force.

What starts as a mud flap violation escalates to a car chase. Why not just stop and get a ticket. What reason do you have for taking off?
 
First rule of dealing with the police is don't lead them on a car chase. Total cooperation prevents them from having the mindset to use force.

What starts as a mud flap violation escalates to a car chase. Why not just stop and get a ticket. What reason do you have for taking off?
I don’t disagree at all but the sad fact is that black people especially men have lost their lives in routine traffic stops even when following the officer’s instructions. Thankfully cellphone video has brought this to light.

It only takes a few bad cops to stain an entire department. So I suspect that the answer if you are black is fear and it’s warranted.
 
I don’t disagree at all but the sad fact is that black people especially men have lost their lives in routine traffic stops even when following the officer’s instructions. Thankfully cellphone video has brought this to light.

It only takes a few bad cops to stain an entire department. So I suspect that the answer if you are black is fear and it’s warranted.
This is not one of those following officer's instruction stories. This is a guy who drew suspicion by first not pulling over, then pulling over and taking off instead of getting out of the truck.

Where I grew up, we knew not to mess with the police. He's in charge when he wants to make a stop.
 
This is not one of those following officer's instruction stories. This is a guy who drew suspicion by first not pulling over, then pulling over and taking off instead of getting out of the truck.

Where I grew up, we knew not to mess with the police. He's in charge when he wants to make a stop.
Do you think that the officer should have released the dog on him? I must have seen it 5 times yesterday on the news and I saw a man with his hands up in the air and starting to kneel down. I also saw a female officer turn her back and gasp putting her hands to her mouth as he signaled the dog to attack.
 
Do you think that the officer should have released the dog on him? I must have seen it 5 times yesterday on the news and I saw a man with his hands up in the air and starting to kneel down. I also saw a female officer turn her back and gasp putting her hands to her mouth as he signaled the dog to attack.
Did the police show up with attack dogs when they first approached the truck to pull it over the first time?


Once you escalate the police response to be one of force anything can get out of control from there. So you take your chances there when you resist.
 
The truck driver was acting irrational throughout the ordeal. non-compliance with officers, trying to flee, talking irrational....all make officers uncertain of his mental state.
Should the dog been released, no, but once the driver shows irrational behavior, all precautions need to be taken.
Then at the end of the report, the NAACP calls out racism. They would have done the same no matter what color the driver was.
 
No doubt the Union will file a Grievance. He did not like the Highway Patrolman telling him what he could and could not do. Since I believe he arrived at the scene before the HP, he had investigative authority, however the HP still maintained their power also under state law.
 
Exactly what is the point of pulling over a truck missing a mud flap? Western Express owns the truck and trailer, NOT the driver, get the plate number and send WE a ticket in the mail.

It's a pretextural stop. It's harassment. It's despicable that LEO's can change the course of someone's life over something so stupid.

BTW driver was on the phone w 911 wondering why so many policeman were chasing him. 911 assures him that he'll be ok if he stopped......we see how it turned out.
 
The scene was chaotic, the suspect not exactly compliant and the dog with better hearing than humans is hearing all kinds words and can sense the tension in the air. A perfect storm of conditions for something like this to happen.

As for the stop for mud flaps it's not a petty stop because debris can fly out from underneath the tire sending it into the air and a car windshield. It happened to me when a stone flew out from underneath a truck tire on a 65 mph highway. Lost a windshield and under the deductible amount so I had to pay $300 because a truck didn't have a mud flap.
 


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