The Black man at the center of a controversial police stop has broken his silence to recount the harrowing moments before he was attacked by a K-9. Jadarrius Rose was driving a semi-truck through Ohio on July 4 when he failed to stop for an inspector who noticed he was missing a mud flap. The situation escalated when police were called for backup.
The 23-year-old told CNN that when he finally noticed officers trailing behind him, he immediately began to fear for his life. Rose first called his mother, who advised him to pull over. He followed her instructions, only to see guns pointed at him through his rearview mirror. “I didn’t feel safe at all,” he recalled. So he called 911 for assistance. “I was just trying to figure out if they could help me,” he said. “I was scared; I didn’t understand why they had guns pointed at me. I didn’t know the reason for them pulling me over at the time.”
He also admitted to returning to the highway and driving across three counties before he stopped again. At that time, he exited the truck with his hands in the air. It was then that he was given conflicting commands: one from a state trooper who told him to walk closer to them and another from Circleville Officer Ryan Speakman, who yelled for him to get on the ground or risk being attacked by the police K-9.
Rose said, “I just stopped in the middle because I didn’t know what was gonna happen. I was afraid that something would happen, and it did happen.” Speakman’s bodycam footage revealed the dog was released to attack Rose as he kneeled in the grass with his arms held high.
“When the dog was biting me, I just was terrified,” said Rose. “I thought I was going to lose my life. I was in pain. I really couldn’t see what the other officers [were] doing because the dog was biting me, and I was just in fear [for] my life. And I just was screaming in pain, and I just didn’t want to die. Like, I didn’t want to die in the hands of police.”
An investigation into his encounter with police is currently under review. Findings are expected to be released in the coming days. As previously reported by REVOLT, Speakman was fired following an initial review of the incident. Bodycam footage can be viewed below.