Ohio State Police In Hot Water After Releasing A K-9 On Black Man With His Hands Up, Mauling Him

A newly released body-camera video shows a police dog mauling an unarmed Black man who had surrendered to authorities after a high-speed chase in Ohio on the Fourth of July.

The video of the incident, obtained by The Washington Post, shows the dog’s handling officer being given several warnings from sergeants at the scene to keep the dog in check if the man peacefully surrendered with his hands in the air. The man complied. But the handler — identified by the Ohio State Highway Patrol as Circleville K-9 Officer Ryan Speakman — instead commanded the dog to attack.

“The Circleville Police Department released their canine, which resulted in the suspect being bitten by the canine,” an Ohio State Highway Patrol spokesman, Sgt. Nathan Dennis, said in an emailed statement to The Post.

The police department told The Post that it has convened a use-of-force review board to investigate the incident and will release its findings at the end of July. The department did not confirm whether Speakman or any other Circleville officers at the scene were placed on leave.

The incident was first reported by the Scioto Valley Guardian.

On the morning of July 4, Circleville police tried to pull over 23-year-old Jadarrius Rose’s semitrailer on U.S. 35 in Jackson County in southeastern Ohio, according to a police investigation report filed in early July. The semi was missing a mudflap on one of its back tires, making it more likely to spray mud, water and debris onto other vehicles. Dashboard-camera video shows Rose weaving around police patrol units and swerving past spiked bars thrown onto the road by police to slowly deflate the semitruck’s tires.

Despite several attempts by police to pull over the commercial semi for an inspection, including police officers driving alongside the vehicle trying to get Rose’s attention, Rose continued to speed down the highway, Officer Nathan Lawson wrote in the police report. The nearly 25-minute chase ended when the truck’s front tires hit the spiked bars and went flat, dashboard video shows.

After the semi was stopped, officers told Rose to walk toward them with his hands up, body-camera video from an Ohio State Highway Patrol officer who was at the scene shows.

“Come to me! You don’t want bit! Come to me, man!” Speakman shouted at Rose, who stood several yards away with his hands above his head. In the background, another officer can be heard repeatedly warning Speakman not to release the dog while Rose’s hands are up.

Though Rose obeyed the officers’ commands, Speakman released the police dog. The animal charged toward a group of officers before being redirected. It then pivoted to Rose, bit his arm and dragged him into the grassy highway median, the video shows.

Immediately after the dog’s first bite, Rose shouted, “Please, please get it off! Get it off!” screaming for help. Police sergeants told Speakman to command the dog to release Rose, whose pained howls can be heard on the video. The dog’s teeth gripped Rose for more than 30 seconds, impaling his skin and causing significant bleeding on his arms, the video showed.

According to a report from the Highway Patrol, Rose was treated with first-aid kits and taken to Adena Regional Medical Center in Chillicothe, Ohio. At the hospital, Rose told State Trooper Tyler Boetcher he did nothing wrong and did not understand why he was being stopped, the state police report said. Rose said he was delivering products to Grove City, Ohio, before returning home to Tennessee.

Rose was released from the hospital that day and taken to the Ross County Jail. He was released from jail on July 7, the jail said.