Salt Lake City Police Department officer Nickolas Pearce is facing a second-degree felony aggravated assault charge after he used a police dog to attack a defenseless Black man in his own backyard, according to The Washington Post.
Since the April 24 attack, Jeffery Ryans had had multiple surgeries and doctors have said his leg may need to be amputated.
Ryans works as a train engineer and was preparing to leave early that morning when, according to The Washington Post, his daughter called the police on him. His wife had a protective order against him and his daughter told police that he was yelling at her and had hit her.
A report from the Police Civilian Review Board found that Ryans thought the order had been lifted and said his wife let him inside the house. Ryans told the Salt Lake Tribune that his wife said she asked for the order to be removed but later realized her request was still pending.
Salt Lake City Civilian Rev… by The Salt Lake Tribune
Bodycam footage from the incident shows that when police arrived, Ryans immediately followed their orders, got on his knees and put his hands in the air. In the video, Pearce can be heard yelling "hit" which is the order for police dogs to attack.
“I wasn’t running. I wasn’t fighting. I was just cooperating. We’ve been through this. We’ve seen this. Always cooperate with the police, no matter what,” Ryans told the Salt Lake Tribune in August.
“I felt like a chew toy. I didn’t know why this was happening to me. That’s what was going through my mind. Why?” the 36-year-old added.
While Ryans is laying on the ground being handcuffed, the dog bites his leg and holds on for nearly a minute.
“I’m on the ground. Why are you biting me? I’m on the ground. Stop!” Ryans screams as Pearce said "good boy" to the dog.
As soon as the dog lets go of Ryans' leg, Pearce calls an ambulance.
“He certainly wasn’t posing an imminent threat of violence or harm to anyone, and he certainly wasn’t concealed. He was fenced in an area and was being compliant,” Salt Lake City District Attorney Sim Gill told the Salt Lake Tribune on Wednesday.
The situation was made worse by senior police officials not being told of the incident until August, when Ryans filed a lawsuit against the department over his injuries.
The Salt Lake Tribune released body cam footage showing the August 6 attack and Pearce was suspended shortly after. The city also suspended the use of police dogs.
The officer involved in the incident documented by body cam footage published by the Tribune Tuesday has been suspended from duty, pending an investigation into their use of force. In addition, the use of K9s to engage with suspects has been completely suspended until
— SLC Mayor Erin Mendenhall (@slcmayor) August 12, 2020
"Furthermore, I am deeply concerned that it took a news outlet publishing this video for it to be brought to the attention of senior police department leadership and myself. I am disturbed by what I saw in that video, frustrated by how the situation was handled, and am committed to working to ensure neither happen again," said Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall on Twitter.
Pearce is now facing up to 15 years in prison for his charge and the Salt Lake City Police Department released its own statement on the situation, saying they take the charges and the Police Civilian Review Board "seriously" and are opening their own investigation.
The president of the Salt Lake City Police Association, Steven Winters, defended Pearce's actions to the Salt Lake Tribune and said the attack was "justified and in the bounds of the law."
Ryans now has nerve and tendon damage, and has suffered from infections due to the leg injury, he said in an interview with the Salt Lake Tribune.
In the interview with the Police Civilian Review Board, Pearce said he thought Ryans was holding on to a fence and not getting to the ground like he ordered, but the video does not show that. The charging documents shared with the Salt Lake Tribune confirm what was in the video.
“When K-9 Tuco engaged and was biting Ryans, Pearce continually praised and encouraged K-9 Tuco. While he was being attacked by K-9 Tuco, Ryans expressed extreme emotions reflective of pain from being bitten by K-9 Tuco and plead with the officers to stop the biting. He questioned why he was being attacked when he was not resisting,” the documents say.
