WOODSON TERRACE, Mo. — Newly obtained police dashcam video of an arrest in St. Louis County shows more of the moments before Woodson Terrace police released a dog on a suspect.
5 On Your Side obtained this video through a Freedom Of Information Act request. According to the City of Woodson Terrace, the video is from a Breckinridge Hills officer's car who was assisting on the stop.
Video recorded by a bystander first brought this case to the public's attention last week. It shows a police dog biting a suspect who is restrained against a police car.
In the police dashcam video, much of the arrest is obscured by the police car the suspect is pinned against. But, much of the dashcam video also has audio of the suspect and police officers.
The suspect, who 5 On Your Side is not naming at this time because he has not been charged, says to police "I refuse" and "I refuse your contract" when police give him orders.
Woodson Terrace said the man claimed to be a "sovereign citizen" who did not recognize their authority. Police say officers were called to the area for a man suspected of trespassing and threatening to "kill a hotel employee" nearby, said spokesman John Hancock on behalf of the city.
Documents obtained via 5 On Your Side’s Sunshine request also show the encounter began at 7:18 a.m. Monday, after someone from a hotel along Woodson Road called police to report a disturbance.
Police also said the man threatened to kill officers but that cannot be heard on the dashcam video.
Police eventually pinned the man against a squad car but he refuses multiple orders from police to put his hands behind his back.
While two officers hold the man against the car, another walks away and returns with a police dog.
"He's gonna get chewed," one officer can be heard saying to the other as they wait for the officer to return with the dog. "I know," the third officer replies.
"Dude, you're going to get ate by this...dog if you don't chill out," one officer tells the man as they hold him down on the hood of the car.
When the officer with the dog returns he again orders the man to put his hands behind his back and the man again says, "I refuse."
After the exchange repeats at least three times the officer with the dog orders the dog to attack.
"Bite him, Mika," the officer is heard saying. Mika, Hancock says, is the dog's name.
"Get on the ground," officers are heard yelling at the man as the dog latches on to his lower body. "I refuse," the man continues to yell.
"Bite him...Mika, bite him," the officer repeats.
Eventually, police handcuff the man.
The 34-year-old man was arrested at 7:45 a.m., and he was booked into the Woodson Terrace police station at 8 a.m. on suspicion of assault on a police dog, assaulting a special victim (a police officer), trespassing, failure to obey an officer and possession of a controlled substance.
He was released to EMS workers at 8:34 a.m.
Hancock said this was all done according to department policy.
First, he said, the officers considered using a Taser on the man but decided against it because his clothing was too thick for an electric shock device's prongs to penetrate.
Hancock said it is Woodson Terrace Police policy that if a Taser isn't an option or doesn't work, the police dog is what officers are trained to do next.
It remains to be seen if that means it is legal.
Last week, 5 On Your Side showed the cell phone video to police canine expert Michael Gould, who said he found the video to be "problematic."
Gould is an expert witness specializing in forensic dog handling, police canine tactics, dog bites, police dog deployment, use of force, canine crime scene, use of narcotics dogs, and scent recognition.
"The use of a police canine, it is an instrument that has to be deployed very carefully," he said last week, "and there are certain circumstances, when we talk about probable cause, what was the underlying crime and sometimes police incidents escalate, but sometimes they de-escalate. In the video that I saw, it looked like the person being detained was under control."
The dog, Mika, was sent to the St. Louis County Animal Control Center for rabies analysis, within 10 days per department policy, and was cleared of any canine vulnerabilities.
Right now the St. Louis county prosecutor and the FBI are both investigating this arrest.
The Woodson Terrace Police Chief previously said through a statement that his department will cooperate with those investigations.
No comment Thursday from the Woodson Terrace police.
Warning: Some viewers may find the videos disturbing.