Ohio cop who released K-9 on surrendering truck driver has been fired

On Wednesday, the Circleville Police Department (CPD) announced that an officer was terminated after he allowed his canine to attack a truck driver who was attempting to surrender.

CPD issued a news release regarding the actions of Officer Ryan Speakman during a July 4 incident involving 23 year old truck driver Jadarrius Rose that was caught on police body cam.

Rose refused to stop when a Motor Carrier Enforcement officer attempted to pull him over on U.S. 35 in Jackson County for a missing mud flap. A multi-agency police pursuit then took place. The pursuit was brought to a halt with stop sticks and Rose eventually exited the truck and stood outside with his hands up.

“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,” the Ohio State Highway Patrol said.

In the video, you can hear a trooper yelling to Officer Speakman, “Do not release the dog with his hands up!”

Rose was transported to a hospital for treatment from the dog bite.

CPD said that “Officer Speakman did not meet the standards and expectations we hold for our police officers. Officer Speakman has been terminated from the department, effective immediately.”

“We know the video of the incident is upsetting and has attracted widespread attention and comments, including Gov. Mike DeWine raising the issue of training. While we certainly respect Gov. DeWine’s views and are always ready to discuss how to improve police training, Circleville’s canine teams of dogs and officers are trained and certified to meet current Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission-recognized standards. Each canine team is recertified annually to a current nationally recognized standard or other recognized and approved certification standard, as outlined in the Ohio Administrative Code for certification of law enforcement canine units. In short, we meet or exceed all current Ohio laws and standards for police training for our canine teams,” CPD said.

You can see the body cam footage below.