A Circleville police officer is in big trouble after improperly releasing his K9 to attack a cooperating suspect. Jadarrius Rose was on his knees and had his hands in the air, video shows. A state trooper was also yelling at the cop NOT to release the dog. Complicating things even further, Mr. Rose happens to be Black. He probably wasn’t attacked specifically because of that but it’s certain to be portrayed that way.
Police use too much force
The video of a police dog mauling a truck driver, coming out of Jackson County, Ohio, is described as “distressing.” The 23-year-old Black teamster from Memphis, Tennessee, was spotted with a missing mud flap on US 35. He didn’t pull over but he also wasn’t actually being chased by the cops either.
It was a “Motor Carrier Enforcement inspector.” Once they got him stopped he claimed he didn’t know he was being chased. He might be telling the truth on that.
The way police wrote it up, Rose “led troopers on a 25-minute chase through Chillicothe, driving erratically and narrowly avoiding spike sticks before a second set blew out his tires on Route 23 in Circleville, about 30 miles south of Columbus.”
Unarmed Black man Jadarrius Rose, 23, was mauled by a Circleville, Ohio, police dog with his hands up following a vehicle pursuit on July 4. Officer Ryan Speakman disobeyed orders by releasing the dog after being told not to multiple times pic.twitter.com/yRDzBrGeoa
— Afro Elite (@TheAfroElite) July 24, 2023
He’ll have to answer separately for all that. His side of the story should be interesting.
The video picks up after he’s already stopped and out of the truck. Footage released on July 21 by the Ohio State Highway Police shows “a state trooper yelling at Rose to approach him” as a Circleville PD German shepherd is “held back by its handler.”
Rose did as instructed. At the same time, the “Circleville cop appears to give a conflicting order,” yelling “Get on the ground or you’re going to get bit!” Rose did the best he could to comply with both. coming forward and dropping to his knees on the ground with his hands still up.
Do NOT release the dog
It’s clear to any impartial observer that a major contributing factor was the order by the state trooper. He repeatedly shouted “Do not release the dog with his hands up!” All the Circleville K-9 officer heard was “release the dog” and that’s what he did. The police officer, identified as Ryan Speakman clearly let loose the hound, which predictably “lunges toward Rose” and bites him as he screams, “Get the dog off of me. Please, please get it off!”
You can bet that the Black community will instantly throw down the race card, though it seems more a case of simple incompetence. The legal term for that is “negligence.” The Columbus Branch of the NAACP is already on record stating “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.” This incident was simply wrong. Period. It would be just as wrong and would have happened just the same if Mr. Rose was White.
The assault happened on July 4, when cops nationwide were already keyed up ahead of a patriotic holiday, kicking off the American Pride Month of July. Ohio State Highway Patrol Sgt. Ryan Purpura admits in a statement that things didn’t go as well as they should have.
There is growing outrage tied to a controversial arrest in Ohio and police body camera video showing a K9 officer unleashing a dog on 23-year-old Jadarrius Rose after he appeared to surrender. @JesseKirschNews reports. Warning: Some of the video is disturbing. pic.twitter.com/pFCjnWvCdr
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) July 24, 2023
“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.” Just the facts.
Troopers on the scene provided immediate first aid until medical personnel arrived on scene. They transported Mr. Rose to Adena Regional Medical Center, where he told troopers “he did nothing wrong and did not understand why he was being stopped.” He was delivering in Grove City, Ohio, and just wanted “to make his delivery and get home.”
There’s enough to back that statement up, at least for now. Police can charge him but getting anything to stick besides whatever infraction he committed with the missing mud flap will be an uphill battle. He’ll go in front of the judge on “failure to comply, a fourth-degree felony” but he’s already been released from jail pending trial.
