Ohio cop fired after releasing K9 on surrendering black truck driver, Governor calls it a 'wake-up call' for police

A black truck driver who was attacked by a police dog while surrendering on July 4 has seen justice after the Ohio cop who released the animal was fired.

Ryan Speakman, a Circleville Police Department officer, ignored orders to hold back the German shepherd K9 that bit Jadarrius Rose, 23, who had his hands up and was on his knees.

The department said Wednesday that Speakman “did not meet the standards and expectations we hold for our police officers” and terminated him “effective immediately.”

The firing came a day after Speakman was put on paid administrative leave as his use of force was probed.

The Circleville Police Use of Force Review Board found “that the department’s policy for the use of canines was followed in the apprehension and arrest” and that the K9 training protocols were also followed.

However, the department said that the Review Board only looked at whether Speakman’s actions were within department policies and procedures, not whether they warranted discipline.

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They did not reveal what led them to fire Speakman, a three-year department officer, and said it would not comment further on a personnel matter.

Speakman’s police union, the Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, filed a grievance Wednesday demanding that Circleville reinstate Speakman and clear his record, claiming he was fired without just cause.

The accused police officer, who joined the Circleville department in February 2020, unleashed his police dog after a 25-minute chase involving the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

Bodycam video showed the moment Ohio state troopers told Rose to come forward while Speakman, holding the K9, shouted different commands.

“Get on the ground or you’re going to get bit!” he yelled in the video.

Rose obeyed by kneeling and raising his hands, as a state trooper told Speakman, “Do not release the dog with his hands up!”

But Speakman let go of the dog, which ran toward Rose and bit him as he cried for help.

Rose was taken to a nearby hospital for the dog bites and was charged with failure to comply, a fourth-degree felony, after being released.

The 23-year-old victim did not explain why he didn’t stop when police first tried to pull him over, but a 911 call he made revealed he told dispatchers that the officers chasing him were “trying to kill” him and he didn’t feel safe stopping after seeing they had their guns drawn.

Rose told The Columbus Dispatch that he couldn’t talk about why he fled from the officers but said, “I’m just glad that it was recorded. What you saw is what, pretty much, happened.”

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The video sparked outrage after it was released Monday, with Ohio’s governor calling it a “wake-up call” for better police training.

“You have a Circleville police officer making clearly a call that was not within normal protocol,” Gov. Mike DeWine said at a press conference Tuesday.

“Frankly, my first reaction was training, it really was. You just have to make sure that every officer has the right training and that is not taking place in those smaller departments.”

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