San Diego police said Friday that the department is investigating a use-of-force incident caught on camera in which an unarmed man was attacked by a police dog and shot multiple times with bean bags during an arrest.
The incident, the subject of a formal complaint against the department, occurred Oct. 24 in the Encanto neighborhood after police responded to a 911 call reporting that a man with a gun had threatened a woman, police spokesperson Ashley Nicholes said in a news release.
According to Nicholes, police spoke to the alleged victim and witnesses, then developed a plan to talk to the suspect, a 31-year-old man in the home. He emerged when they ordered him outside.
“Officers repeatedly ordered the suspect to surrender,” Nicholes said in the release. “He did not, and officers used three less-lethal beanbag rounds and a police canine to take him into custody.”
The man was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and resisting arrest but not taken to jail, Nicholes said. No gun was found. The case was forwarded to the City Attorney’s office for review for any potential criminal charges. The office handles misdemeanor cases.
The late-night arrest of the barefoot, shirtless man was caught on camera by a local news freelancer. Nicholes said Friday that the video prompted questions in the community about how the arrest was handled, and a complaint was filed. The department’s Internal Affairs Unit is investigating.
“As with many uses of force, videos of this nature are very difficult to view,” police Chief Scott Wahl said in the news release. “We are already in the process of conducting a thorough review of the incident, and I’m committed to exploring how the situation could have been handled differently.”
Nicholes said the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training will monitor the investigation, and the state’s Department of Justice will review the case.
In addition, the local Commission on Police Practices will review the investigation. The man’s uncle, Anthony Evans, spoke to the commission at its public meeting Wednesday, and said police “sent the dogs after him because he was asking questions.” Evans also said guns were pointed at his sons, including one who is 13.
The footage from SIDEO.TV is not continuous and contains multiple cuts. It shows the man exiting the house, wearing only shorts and with his arms raised.
At some point, he sits on a retaining wall, his arms still up — and is quickly shot with a bean bag round. He falls to the ground and groans in pain. “Why’d you shoot me?” he repeatedly asks.
“… You need to comply with my commands,” an officer says. “If you try to run, you will be bit by a police dog.”
As the man sits on the ground talking to police, he is shot with another bean bag round. A police dog runs up to him, but is quickly called off.
After a camera cut, the man is seen still sitting on ground with his arms raised. “Why are you at this house?” he asks. He is again shot with a bean bag and attacked by the dog, which takes hold of his left arm, tugging violently as multiple officers surround him. The man screams in pain and pleads for officers to stop.
Nicholes said the man was treated at a hospital.
Evans told the Commission on Police Practices that when police arrived and ordered that he and his nephew exit the house, he was unable to do so because he was on dialysis. He sent his 17-year-old son outside to speak with police.
“They handcuffed him, had him patted him down or whatever with the guns pointed at him,” Evans said.
Evans said he and his other two sons, ages 13 and 20, were also told to exit the house with guns pointed at them.
“Something (has) to be done, because they didn’t find any weapons in my house,” he said. “It was just crazy.
“My kids, they don’t trust police, they’re scared,” he said.
