‘Do not release the dog;’ Video shows unarmed man attacked by K-9 in Ohio after chase

CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio — Body camera video released on Friday by the Ohio State Highway Patrol shows a police dog attacking an unarmed man who was driving a commercial truck and had surrendered during a July 4 incident.

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The incident in southern Ohio followed a three-county chase as officers attempted to pull over the commercial truck driver whose vehicle was “missing a left rear mud flap” and failed to stop for an inspection, CNN reported.

Video, which was obtained by the cable news outlet and The Washington Post, shows the dog’s handling officer being warned several times by sergeants at the scene to keep the dog in check if the man surrendered peacefully with his hands in the air, the newspaper reported.

The driver, identified as 23-year-old Jadarrius Rose, complied, according to the Post.

“Don’t release the dog. Do not release the dog with his hands up,” a state trooper warns the K-9 handler from a distance several times, WOIO-TV reported, citing the body camera video footage. It was unclear whether the trooper could be heard by other law enforcement officers, CNN reported.

Warning: Video below contains graphic images and language.

Despite the trooper’s warning, the handler, identified by the highway patrol as Circleville K-9 Officer Ryan Speakman, released the dog -- a 4-year-old Belgian Malinois-Shepherd named Serg, according to the Scioto Valley Guardian, which first reported the incident.

According to the video, the dog ran toward officers and then turned to Rose and attacked him, pulling him to the ground after biting his arm, the Post reported.

“Get the dog off of him! Get the dog!” troopers yelled, according to body camera video.

The dog maintained his grip on Rose for more than 30 seconds, the video showed.

“As troopers were attempting to gain compliance by providing verbal commands to the suspect, the Circleville Police Department deployed their canine, which resulted in the suspect being bitten by the canine,” Ohio State Highway Patrol Sgt. Ryan E. Purpura told WOIO.

According to a redacted Ohio State Highway Patrol case report obtained by CNN, a Motor Carrier Enforcement inspector turned on his vehicle lights and pursued Rose. The missing mudflap on one of the truck’s back tires made it more likely that the vehicle could spray mid, water and debris onto other vehicles on U.S. 35 in Jackson County, the Post reported.

The chase involved state troopers, sheriff’s deputies and local police, according to the Guardian.

Dashboard camera video shows Rose weaving around police patrol units and swerving past spiked bars thrown onto the road to slowly deflate the truck’s tires, the Post reported.

The 25-minute chase ended when the truck’s front tires hit a set of spiked bars and went flat, according to the newspaper.

Purpura said that after Rose was taken into custody, troopers immediately provided first aid and contacted an ambulance, CNN reported. Rose was treated and released at an area hospital before he was taken to the Ross County Jail, according to the news outlet.

According to the state police report, Rose reportedly told State Trooper Tyler Boetcher at the hospital that he did nothing wrong and did not understand why he was being stopped, the Post reported. Rose said he was delivering products to Grove City, Ohio, before returning home to Tennessee.

He was released from jail on July 7, according to the newspaper.

Rose’s attorney has declined to comment.

In a statement, NAACP Columbus Branch President Nana Watson called the actions of officers “barbaric.” Rose is a Black man.

“This type of barbaric behavior brought back horrible memories and images of the unleashing of dogs on civil (rights) activists that occurred in the South during the 1960s,” Watson said.

An internal report conducted by the Circleville Police Department ruled that no excessive force was used in the arrest, the Guardian reported. Circleville police Chief Shawn Baer did not return a request for comment to the newspaper.