A pair of Alaska state troopers have been charged with misdemeanor assault following a case of mistaken identity when investigators said they pepper-sprayed, tased and unleashed a police dog while arresting a man on a warrant that was meant for a different person.
Sgt. Joseph Miller and K-9 handler Jason Woodruff were charged with fourth-degree assault for the May 24 incident, James Cockrell, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Public Safety, announced at a news conference Thursday.
Cockrell said he was "totally sickened" by what he saw on the troopers' body cameras.
"I've been with this department for 33 years, and I've never seen any action like this before by an Alaska state trooper," he emphasized.
"Because of their actions, there were significant injuries to the person who went to the hospital."
Cockrell added: "Let me be clear: the actions of these two individuals are not acceptable to me, not in line with our training and policy, and I know they are not acceptable to the Alaskans we serve."
The confrontation occurred when Miller and Woodruff responded to a report of a car parked in a public right-of-way in Soldotna on Alaska's Kenai Peninsula, southwest of Anchorage. The car was registered to a man whose name was linked to an active misdemeanor warrant, according to Cockrell.
The troopers ordered the driver out of the vehicle, but broke the car's windows and dragged him out when he refused, saying there was no warrant against him.
They then pepper-sprayed and tased him, and Woodruff sicced his police dog on the driver and ordered the animal to "bite the man," said Cockrell.
Miller then placed his foot on the man's head, "pushing it into the ground covered in broken glass," causing his "face or head" to start bleeding, Cockrell recounted.
After the man was taken to a local hospital for treatment, the troopers realized they had actually arrested the cousin of the man they were looking for, according to the commissioner. The men share a last name.
"There should have been some additional questions," Cockrell noted.
Miller and Woodruff have since been placed on administrative leave, and the dog is no longer in service.
The troopers will next be in court on September 10.
