Tell me if you’ve heard this one before. Police are under fire after using excessive force on a suspect after giving that suspect conflicting commands. To make the optics even worse, the suspect in question is black and the force in question happens to be the bite and mauling force of a police-trained K9 unit. An investigation into the incident is ongoing.
Ohio police say that on July 4th, 23-year-old Jadarrius Rose failed to stop by State Highway Police. New documents show that Rose himself actually called 911 during the chase claiming to be unsure of what was going on.
“Right now, I have police officers following me for a long time and I am trying to figure out why they have their guns pulled out,” Rose said in the 911 call released by Ross County, Ohio, authorities. “I am just a truck driver. I was about to comply with them, but they all had their guns drawn out. There are like 20 police cars behind me. And I don’t feel safe.”
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Since he didn’t stop, they popped the tires on his big rig and ultimately got him out of the car. Body-cam footage shows that Rose had surrendered and was on his knees with his hands up when the K9 incident occurred.
In that video footage officers from different areas around the suspect are shouting different commands including “come to me” and “get on the ground or you’re going to get bit.” Looking confused but with his hands in the air, Rose gets onto his knees just before Officer Ryan Speakman releases his German Shepherd.
The dog initially mistakes his target for another officer before Speakman retargets him. Both before and after Speakman releases the dog another officer continually and repeatedly orders Speakman “don’t release the dog!” Despite that, the K9 ultimately finds his target and tears into Rose’s arm. Officers continue yelling at Speakman to “get the dog off of him!” At least one officer at the scene looks visibly shaken at the damage.
Authorities say that “troopers immediately provided first aid and contacted EMS to respond,” and that a Use of Force Review Board is investigating the incident and will provide its findings on the week of July 31st. Speakman is on leave and the dog in question is kenneled for the time being. It seems like the only thing in this situation that did as it was told might have been the German Shepherd.
Nobody here is arguing that Rose wasn’t in the wrong for failing to stop when officers initiated a traffic stop. At the same time, his initial infraction was a missing mudflap which seems pretty insignificant in light of the egregious mishandling of the situation that followed.