Two Alaska state troopers charged with assault after violently arresting wrong person

By Sara Smart and Zoe Sottile, CNN

(CNN) — Two Alaska State Troopers have been charged with misdemeanor assault after using pepper spray, a taser and a canine while arresting a man on a warrant that had been issued for a different person, authorities announced Thursday.

Sgt. Joseph Miller and canine handler Jason Woodruff have both been charged with fourth-degree assault for the May 24 incident, Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Public Safety James Cockrell announced in a news conference Thursday.

“I’ve been with this department 33 years, and I’ve never seen any action like this before by an Alaska State Trooper,” Cockrell said. “Because of their actions, there was significant injuries to the person that went to the hospital that was in that vehicle.”

An arraignment for the officers is scheduled on September 10.

The two troopers broke out the rear window of a man’s car, pepper sprayed him, used a taser, and ordered a police dog to repeatedly bite him while attempting to arrest him, authorities said. It wasn’t until officers took him to the hospital for treatment that they realized that they had arrested the cousin of the man they were seeking. Both men had the same last name.

The two troopers originally responded to 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 with an active misdemeanor warrant, according to Cockrell.

Miller and Woodruff were placed on administrative leave following the incident and the dog is no longer in service, according to Cockrell. CNN has been unable to determine if Miller and Woodruff have obtained legal representation.

The troopers attempted to speak with a man who was “hidden in the rear of the vehicle” and ordered him to exit the car, according to a news release from Alaska’s Department of Public Safety. He denied he had an active warrant and refused to exit the vehicle, the news release said.

Miller, 49, then broke out the rear window of the car and sprayed pepper spray into the car, according to the news release. “There should have been some additional questions asked before we broke the window and drug him out of his car,” Public Safety Commissioner Cockrell said in the news conference.

As the man began to exit the vehicle, the troopers attempted to handcuff him, and Miller placed his foot on the man’s head, “pushing it into the ground covered in broken glass,” according to the release. This caused his “face or head” to start bleeding, said Cockrell.

Miller also used a taser multiple times, according to the news release.

Then, even as the man seemed to be complying with commands from officers, Woodruff, 42, released his canine and “continued to order the K9 to bite the man,” the release said.

The man was eventually placed in handcuffs, given first aid and taken to a hospital.

It wasn’t until then the troopers realized he was not the person they were looking for.

According to charging documents obtained by The Associated Press, the troopers thought they had encountered a man with an outstanding warrant but the man pepper-sprayed and attacked by a dog was his cousin.

The man was left blooded and needed surgery to repair muscle lacerations after the incident, The Associated Press reported.

Charges against the man who was wrongly arrested were subsequently dropped, according to the charging document against the two officers.

“Personally, when I reviewed this video, I was totally sickened by what I saw,” Cockrell said. Authorities have said they will not release all the body camera video until the investigation is complete.

Miller and Woodruff were placed on administrative leave following the incident and the dog is no longer in service, according to Cockrell.

“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 it is not acceptable to the Alaskans we serve,” said Cockrell in the news release.

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