DAYTON — The Dayton Police Department is releasing new information about a recent police encounter on where officers forcibly removed a man who reported being disabled from his car and dragged him to a police cruiser during a traffic stop.
In a community incident briefing into the traffic stop, police said an internal investigation into the incident was started on Oct. 1.
In reviewing the incident, Dayton Police said two officers were on patrol, monitoring a suspected drug house in the area of the 1900 block of West Grand Ave. for Narcotics Bureau Detectives on the afternoon of Sept. 30.
Police initiated a traffic stop with a white Audi that was seen leaving the suspected drug house. As News Center 7 previously reported, body camera footage showed officers telling the driver, Clifford Owensby, that a dog would need to search the vehicle due to Owensby’s felony drug and weapons history, as well as the fact that he was witnessed leaving a suspected drug house.
DPD policy requires all occupants exit vehicles so K9 officers can conduct searches safely, according to police.
Owensby told officers he could not exit the car because he was paraplegic and refused officers help to be assisted out of the car.
“No you’re not. No you’re not. You’re not going to touch me,” the video shows, Owensby said.
Owensby was forcibly removed from the car, handcuffed and taken to a local hospital to be examined.
In the briefing posted on DPD’s social media accounts, police revealed there was an unrestrained 3-year-old in the back of the car.
Police said a Narcotics K9 found a large bag of money, totaling $22,450, in the front of the car, on the floorboard. That indicated to police that at some previous point, the money was in close proximity to illegal drugs.
Dayton Municipal Court records showed the Owensby was cited for child restraint and tinted glass.
Here is a Community Incident Briefing regarding the investigation and traffic stop that occurred on September 30, 2021https://t.co/nXxGnyT07R
— Dayton Police Dept. (@DaytonPolice) October 8, 2021
Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley issued a statement Thursday after the briefing. Whaley called the body camera footage of the encounter “concerning.”
“No matter where you live or what you look like, everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect when dealing with Dayton Police. Immediately following this interaction, the City released the body camera footage and a full investigation is already underway. Dayton remains committed to our ongoing community-led police reform process and providing transparency in situations like this,” Whaley said.
The Dayton Fraternal Order of Police issued a statement in defense of the officers saying they “followed the law, their training and departmental policies and procedures.”
“Sometimes the arrest of noncompliant individuals is not pretty, but is a necessary part of law enforcement to maintain public safety, which is one of the fundamental ideologies of our society,” Jerome Dix, president of Dayton FOP Lodge #44, stated.
Police said their internal investigation is ongoing. They have interviewed Owensby and are gathering all necessary evidence for a complete and thorough investigation.
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