The Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association wants former Circleville police officer Ryan Speakman reinstated.
Speakman was fired Wednesday after he ordered a police dog to attack an unarmed Black man during a traffic stop earlier this month. The city of Circleville said in a news release that Speakman, “did not meet the standards and expectations we hold for our police officers,” during the arrest of 23-year-old Jadarrius Rose.
OPBA filed a grievance against the Circleville Police Department, claiming the termination was without just cause and in violation of a union agreement. In the grievance, also dated for Wednesday, the union asks the police department to reimburse Speakman for lost wages and to let him return to work with no record of being fired.
Meanwhile, prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump announced he will represent Rose. Crump has been in the national spotlight as he represented the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Andre Hill, among other notable cases.
NEWS ALERT: @AttorneyCrump has been retained to represent 23-yo Jadarrius Rose, an unarmed Black semitruck driver who was injured when an Ohio officer — since fired — released a canine on him during a traffic stop over nothing more than a missing mudflap. pic.twitter.com/WcBNedCA5O
— Ben Crump Law, PLLC (@BenCrumpLaw) July 27, 2023
Rose led police on a multi-county chase in southeast and central Ohio until his truck was stopped in Pickaway County. As he surrendered to Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers and held his hands up in cooperation, Speakman and other Circleville officers arrived and Speakman released his K-9 and ordered the animal to attack Rose, according to officials.
Body camera footage shows state troopers and other officers were yelling at Speakman not to release the dog, because Rose had his hands up.
In a statement, Crump said that Rose didn’t stop for police because he felt unsafe, but that he “did everything he was supposed to do in that situation – he called 911 to explain his concerns and kept driving.”
Crump’s statement continued, “The reality we live in is that Black people have an ingrained mistrust for law enforcement because of situations like this. A man was mauled by a police canine over a missing mudflap.”
Rose is facing felony charges of failing to comply with police.
