An investigation has been launched into why an Ohio officer allowed his police dog to attack a truck driver who was surrendering with his hands raised, despite State Highway Patrol troopers urging the officer to hold the dog back.
The lengthy pursuit on July 4 and the ensuing attack were captured on a police body camera. Authorities said the chase began on state highway 35, when officers tried to stop a commercial semitruck that was missing a mud flap and had failed to stop for an inspection.
State troopers were called in to help with the chase, authorities said. The driver, Jadarrius Rose, 23, of Memphis, Tennessee, who is Black, initially refused to get out of the truck and later defied directives to get on the ground, according to an Ohio State Highway Patrol incident report.
“The suspect failed to stop for marked patrol units with lights and sirens activated,” the report said. He eventually got on his knees and raised his hands in the air. NBC News reported that Rose told a trooper who was instructing him to get out of his vehicle that he was on the phone with 911, according to the report.
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The body cam video shows an officer with the Circleville Police Department holding back the K9, and a trooper can be heard repeatedly yelling, “Do not release the dog with his hands up!” However, the officer deployed the dog, and it can be seen in the video attacking Rose.
A trooper can be heard yelling repeatedly, “Get the dog off of him!” and Rose appears to be in pain and yelling “Get it off! Please! Please!” before the attack ends. Rose was treated at a hospital for dog bites.
Rose was charged with failure to comply. A phone number or other contact information for Rose could not immediately located. It's not clear why he refused to stop for the inspector and police. He told The Columbus Dispatch that he couldn’t talk about why he didn’t stop but, when asked about the video, told the newspaper “I’m just glad that it was recorded. What you saw is what, pretty much, happened.”
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The name of the Circleville officer has not been released, although NBC News identifies him as R. Speakman.
Officials in the Circleville department have not said if he'll face any disciplinary action. They also declined to comment on the investigation.
