A police department in southern Ohio is under scrutiny for a 1:49-minute clip that shows one of the dogs from its K-9 unit viciously mauling a Black man despite the man complying with officer orders.
The footage, newly released by the Ohio State Highway Patrol, also captures one on-site officer instructing a police responder not to release the dog, and that command being ignored.
The suspect was a Black trucker authorities say attempted to evade law enforcement by taking them on a high-speed chase across three counties on the Fourth of July. After passing Jackson, Ross, and Pickaway counties, the chase ended on a highway, where the trucker, walking alongside the median, was told to put his hands in the air, according to the Scioto Valley Guardian.
At this point, Officer Ryan Speakman of the Circleville Police Department K-9 unit arrives at the scene with a police dog named Serg and escalates the situation within seconds.
A scene supervisor repeatedly tells Speakman not to release the dog, saying that the suspect is complying and has his hands up.
“Do not release the dog with his hands up,” he shouts.
Speakman is heard addressing the motorist as if he is not complying and then commands Serg to attack, yelling “Get your a– on the ground or you’re going to get bit!”
At the same time, a trooper tells the driver, “Come to me; you don’t want [to be] bit, come to me, man.”
The confused truck driver sinks to the ground with his hands up, at which Speakman shouts the command “stellen” — “bite” in Dutch — to the Belgian Malinois shepherd, signaling him to attack.
The video shows the man being dragged and mutilated by the animal.
“Get…
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