‘Good Boy’: Ohio K-9 Officer on Leave After Ordering Police Dog to Maul Man On the Ground with Hands Behind His Back—Who Wasn’t the Suspect
An Ohio K-9 officer is under criminal investigation after a video shows him ordering his dog to attack a Black man who he accused of taunting the animal while standing in the front yard of his own home and watching a traffic stop across the street.
Canton Police Department Officer Nicholas Casto was also placed on administrative leave following the May 30 incident in a downtown Canton neighborhood, which was captured on a bodycam worn by the officer in question.
The disturbing episode happened as multiple police units surrounded a vehicle that made a “sudden turn” and jumped a curb before being pulled over in a residential area.
After searching the car, officers discovered an open bottle of booze and a gun underneath the front seat, and the driver and passenger were arrested, according to reports.
Meanwhile, a small crowd of bystanders, including several children, emerged from their homes to watch the situation unfold, but they remained a safe distance from where police had the initial suspects in custody.
Moments later, the officer with the dog turned his focus to an unidentified man in the crowd who he claimed threatened the K-9 German shepherd, which was barking uncontrollably at peaceful members of the community standing on their own property.
This led Casto — the dog’s handler — to turn his attention away from the suspects in the vehicle toward the man in front of his house, but it’s not clear from the video what prompted the interaction.
A moment later, Casto called out to fellow officers at the scene, saying he had warned the man multiple times about taunting the dog and that he should be arrested.
Casto’s body camera recorded the man potentially motioning or speaking to the animal, but it’s not clear what he says as portions of the audio have been bleeped out.
Next, Casto can be heard saying, “I’m about to put this guy in cuffs,” and begins walking up the hill toward the man with the growling K-9 charging eagerly ahead of him, the leash taut and fully extended.
“Say one more thing to this dog,” Casto can be heard warning the man as he approached.
“Go inside or you’re going to jail,” another officer can be heard saying before Casto interrupts and orders he be placed under arrest for toying with the dog, even as the man was standing at least 40 yards away from the K-9.
The video shows three officers walk up on the man and grab his arms before immediately claiming that he was resisting arrest, seemingly providing a pretext for Casto to allow the dog to attack.
The video shows the man complying with the officers when they first grabbed him and snatched his arms behind his back, but he never showed any physical resistance to these aggressive actions.
Seconds later, the three officers overpower the man, scoop him off his feet and wrestle him to the ground, although it’s not clear why as the man never raised his arms or made any threatening moves toward the officers.
Now facedown on the ground, the man appears to fully surrender during the ordeal, but the officers appear to purposely delay putting him in handcuffs, and despite them being in complete control, they keep screaming at the man to, “Stop resisting! Stop resisting!”
However, this is inconsistent from the man’s actions in the footage, which shows him not fighting back and keeping his arms behind him the entire time even though he was not in handcuffs yet.
Meanwhile, Casto reached the one-sided scuffle and stood over the man with the chomping dog.
Fellow officers held the man in place until the final moment before stepping back to allow the dog to gnaw the victim.
As the dog attacked, the man accepted his fate without resistance, according to the video.
In the background, children can be heard crying and screaming in horror at the vicious attack.
The defenseless man was bitten numerous times although he doesn’t appear to be bleeding in the video.
After a few seconds, Casto finally pulls the animal off and backs away before the dog devours the man, while another officer comes forward and places the wounded man in handcuffs before taking him away.
“Good boy,” Casto is heard telling the dog on the video.
Four people were arrested at the scene, including the two men involved in the traffic stop and two people from the crowd, including the man from the dog attack.
One man was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and obstruction, and another man faces charges of assault on a police officer and making threats to a police K-9, according to an arrest report.