CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio — The Guardian has exclusively obtained documents and new video from the K9 attack in Circleville that unveils a host of new revelations and appalling facts, including the real reason why Officer Ryan Speakman was fired. The documents exclusively obtained by the Guardian show that the city believes the attack was justified, along with a timeline of what happened after the attack, why Speakman initially kept his job, why he was really fired, and how Circleville officials worked to coverup the incident after a media spotlight.
Quick facts about the background story
Officer Ryan Speakman of the Circleville Police Department was fired on Wednesday. His termination came after a July 4 incident along route 23 involving a black man, Jadarrius Rose, 23, Memphis, Tenn.
Rose, who was driving an 18-wheeler had led troopers from the Highway Patrol on a pursuit. Troopers said they were trying to pull Rose over for a missing mudflap on his semi trailer; Rose, who was on the phone with 911 dispatchers during the chase told emergency dispatchers he did not know why he was being pulled over and that he feared for his life because troopers had pointed guns at him. Eventually, Rose’s semi truck was hit with spike strips, which forced the chase to end just inside the Pickaway County line.
Rose voluntarily got out of his semi truck and was standing on the highway with a dozen troopers behind him. One trooper on the scene started issuing commands to Rose to put his hands in the air and walk toward law enforcement. Rose complied, by putting his hands up; but seconds later, Circleville Police officers arrived at the scene, with one of them being Speakman, who had a K9 dog named Serg.
Speakman is seen on several body cameras getting his dog out of his police cruiser and yelling his own commands at Rose to get on the ground “or else he was going to get bitten by the dog.” Simultaneously, troopers were yelling different commands at Rose telling him to walk toward them.
An apparent–confused Rose is seen on several body cameras pointing at Speakman and then, pointing at the troopers in a confused state. Troopers, including the on-scene supervisor, could be heard numerous times telling Speakman not to release his dog as long as Rose was complying with orders and had his hands in the air. Despite that, Speakman unleashed his dog, which initially charged at troopers, before Speakman redirected the dog to bite Rose. Rose was on his knees with his hands in the air when the dog latched onto his arm and started mauling him. Troopers immediately rushed in, yelling at Speakman to get the dog.
Rose was treated for the dog bite and taken to jail on charges of fleeing from the police. He was released a few days later on bond.
The initial fallout from the attack
The Guardian was the first news organization to break the story, which has since gone international showing video that has captivated an entire world: a police K9 being ordered by his handler — Speakman — to attack a black man — Rose — who was on his knees with his hands up. After the Guardian’s initial story, which was written by editor-in-chief Derek Myers and news editor Jay Salley, on July 18, Columbus Dispatch reporter Peter Gill picked up the story. From there, the video and attack went viral, making it international news.
A nation became enraged over the video, mostly because troopers had ordered Speakman not to release the dog while Rose was seemingly complying, and also, once the dog was released, Rose was on his knees, still with his hands up when the dog was ordered to attack him. The bite invoked emotion from many, who wondered why Speakman remained employed after the horrifying incident.
In the days after the Guardian and the Dispatch’s stories, Speakman and the Circleville Police Department were under pressure. News crews had flocked to the small town of 15,000 people. Questions were being asked about Speakman’s employment status and if he was going to be criminally investigated for the attack. The Mayor, Don McIlroy, and the town’s police chief, Gary Shawn Baer were mum.
Now, documents exclusively obtained by the Guardian show a timeline of what happened after the attack, why Speakman initially kept his job, why he was really fired, and how Circleville officials worked to keep the incident quiet.
Speakman was cleared of wrongdoing until news reports
After a two-week battle and the threat of a 40-page lawsuit, the Guardian was able to obtain public records from the city that sheds light in a dark closet and answers many questions that linger.
After the July 4 attack, Speakman wrote his police report as normal, and according to paperwork, the city followed its internal protocol and convened its “excessive use of force review board” to see if Speakman’s unleashing of his dog was in compliance with department policy and procedures.
The board is comprised of:
- A member of the police department’s command staff; in this case, the acting-Captain
- The shift supervisor who oversees the shift where the incident occurred
- A training coordinator
- A non-administrative supervisor
- A peer police officer
- A police officer from an outside agency — unknown which agency was used in this review
- The department’s instructor on the type of weapon used — in this case, a dog, but no trainer existed within the department
The board, according to the police chief’s notes received by the Guardian convened on July 6 — two days after the attack. Board chairman, acting-Captain Kenny Fisher wrote, “the board concluded that all personnel involved acted within departmental policy regarding the use of force and canine operations policies.” He further wrote that, “It is a recommendation of the board to have the incident sent to the K9 training agency to review the incident based on not having a K-9 training representative available for the review.”
However, after the Guardian’s July 18 story, things took a turn inside the department. In Baer’s notes, he outlines how Speakman was being too chatty with others about the media coverage in the Guardian and that he needed to tone it down.
Speakman was crying too much at work and telling lies
The police chief tells a story that Speakman was too much to handle at work after the news reports.
“… On July 19 …. [one day after the Guardian’s story and 15 days after the attack] I spoke with Ryan Speakman about reports I received that he was crying and talking with other employees about being stressed over the July 4, 2023, K-9 deployment,” the chief wrote. “This conversation took place in Deputy Chief [Doug] Davis’ office with him present, along with HR Director Valerie Dilley. I told [Speakman] that Deputy Chief Davis had already told him that he needed to stop going around to everyone talking about the deployment. The review board had convened, and everything appeared that the deployment was within policy and training guidelines.”
The chief told Speakman that the gossiping and crying were not “beneficial” to the police department and that he needed to stop. In addition, the H.R. director provided the officer with support resources for stress management. Despite the conversation, Baer’s notes claim that Speakman continued to express emotion, have meltdowns and cry at work, and would talk with other officers about the news coverage.
“[The next day] Ryan Speakman continued to approach CPD employees upset and crying. I again spoke with him. This conversation took place in [Deputy] Chief Davis’ office with him present along with H.R. Director Valerie Dilley. I ordered Ryan Speakman to stop his conduct and explained to him that if he was confident that he had followed his training and policy that there was no reason to act this way. I asked him who he had talked with about the incident. He replied he had spoken with a few people, but they were only other CPD employees, and he had not spoken with anyone outside of CPD.”
Following the conversation, Speakman took a two-page list of people who were from outside the police department that he had spoken with about the incident to the chief, papers show. Later in the day, Baer claims that Speakman revealed there were more people that were not on the list. As a result of Speakman’s crying at work, gossiping with officers, and allegedly not being truthful about who he had talked with about the incident, on Friday, July 21 he was placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation into being “unfit for duty.”
Why was the review board’s findings withheld from the public
The police chief’s notes say that the review board completed their finding of no wrongdoing before the Guardian and Dispatch’s news stories were published, but that once the news cycle hit, “Ryan Speakman discussed so much information with so many people [that] it had immense potential to impact the board’s ability to provide an accurate review.” Baer said the findings were kept from the public and the media until a second set of eyes from a K9 training facility could review the incident and see if the department ruled correctly.
The chief said that the training facility the department uses for their dogs ruled that Speakman and the K9 acted within their training, which agreed with the department’s decision that nothing wrong had happened. Despite that, Speakman remained under an internal investigation for crying too much at work, talking with other officers about the incident when he was ordered to stop, and because he allegedly was not truthful about who he had spoken with outside of the department about the incident.
Video from Speakman shows he felt he was in the right
The Guardian exclusively obtained the body camera video that Speakman wore during the attack. When the initial video from the Highway Patrol was released by the Guardian back on July 17, the question remained unanswered if Speakman could hear the troopers telling Rose conflicting commands than those that he was yelling. The video obtained on Friday by the Guardian shows clearly that Speakman could hear the troopers. In fact, he noted so in his report.
“On my arrival K9 Sergey was deployed and placed in between me and the non-compliant suspect standing in a readily accessible point to re-enter his vehicle,” Speakman wrote. “I began by giving three loud and clear announcements advising the suspect to comply and place himself on the ground and failure to do so would result in a K9 apprehension. While trying to communicate with the suspect, Ohio Highway Patrol units were still trying to give commands in between my announcements. This adversely affected the attention of K9 Serg. Serg — hearing other units yelling all at once — made Serg believe they were dealing with an issue that required his assistance. The suspect was muttering some type of questions of why so many guns were pointed at him. The suspect still refused to comply with all my attempts to get him to surrender. After my final warning I gave the suspect an opportunity to comply with my orders again. The suspect began to walk away from Serg and I. I then made the decision to deploy K9 Serg off lead in the suspects direction.”
According to troopers, the reason Rose was “walking away” from Speakman and the dog was because they were telling him to do so, while other troopers were telling Speakman not to release the dog. Several body cameras at the scene caught the unleashing of the dog and the attack, which Speakman wrote about in his own words.
“[The Highway Patrol] units were still giving commands, which drew Serg’s attention to them causing him to bypass the suspect and go to them. Let it be noted there were approximately 10 [troopers] units south of our position. I was able to recall Serg to my position with the suspect still behind me. When I turned around the suspect was still not compliant and not on the ground as I advised him. K9 Serg was then able to apprehend the suspect on his left forearm.”
Even though Speakman wrote in his report, “When I turned around the suspect was still not compliant and not on the ground,” the numerous bodycam videos show otherwise; they show Rose was on his knees with his hands in the air. He had stopped walking toward troopers when he saw the dog was unleashed. Despite being on his knees with his hands up, Speakman yelled for the dog to bite the black man.
“The only reason he started going to the ground was because he saw the dog coming after him. I mean, I’m not stopping him …. I think it’s a justifiable bite,” Speakman told a trooper after the bite.
It’s worth noting that in Speakman’s video he is overheard telling another Circleville officer that he did not know why the troopers appeared to be upset and angry with him.
“I don’t know why they seem pissed off at me. He was not complying. I gave him three commands.”
Even though Speakman expressed those feelings, the Circleville Police Department’s K9 policy shows that if they are assisting another agency, the outside agency is the lead person on the situation and that all judgment calls must come from the outside agency, including the release of a dog. As noted several times already, troopers ordered the dog not to be released. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost told several news media outlets this week that the standards were the same across the board for all departments, meaning that troopers knew they were in control and that Speakman knew that, too.
Also in the video, Speakman is overheard telling troopers that the Guardian was at the scene and wanted to know if the troopers wanted him to run the news off. Troopers, apparently bewildered at the request, ignored his question. Moments later, Speakman muted his bodycam and it remained that way until he left the scene.
Speakman’s termination and where things stand
Speakman was fired on Wednesday, more than 20 days after the initial attack and after the review board found he had done nothing wrong. The reason for his termination was that he was not fit for duty and because he was crying too much at work, talking with other officers when ordered to stop, and because he was not forthcoming with information about who he had talked with about the incident. When officers delivered his termination paperwork to him, Speakman started crying and walked into his house; Serg had already been kenneled by the department.
Rose, meanwhile, still faces charges for his chase in the semi. He has retained nationally-renowned civil rights lawyer Ben Crump. Crump is an American attorney who specializes in civil rights and catastrophic personal injury cases such as wrongful death lawsuits. His practice has focused on cases such as those of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, George Floyd, Keenan Anderson, Randy Cox, and Tyre Nichols, people affected by the Flint water crisis, the estate of Henrietta Lacks, and the plaintiffs behind the 2019 Johnson & Johnson baby powder lawsuit alleging the company’s talcum powder product led to ovarian cancer diagnoses.
“It was the right decision to fire Ryan Speakman for releasing the police canine on Jadarrius,” said Crump on Friday. “The bottom line is that Speakman used force on Jadarrius while he was complying – in our opinion, that force was excessive. The excessive force Speakman used was not a baton or taser like we often see in these incidents, it was a live animal that repeatedly sunk its teeth into an already terrified Jadarrius, conjuring disturbing images from the past.”
It is expected that Crump will file a federal lawsuit in the coming weeks.
When asked on Friday if the Highway Patrol was conducting a criminal investigation into Speakman’s actions, or if they were going to request the state or Department of Justice to review the bite, a spokesman would only address the pursuit itself, and not the actions of Speakman.
A Black Lives Matter protest is scheduled for Saturday at noon in font of the town’s police department, where activists are calling for the firing of police chief Gary Shawn Baer for his handling of the incident.
The police chief and mayor would not return requests for an interview for this story.