A Black man from Ohio expressed feeling “traumatized” after police deployed a K-9 on him during a traffic stop. The incident occurred when officers were investigating a vehicle that had been falsely identified as stolen, as shown in the body camera footage.
The NAACP branch in Toledo criticized the recent release of the police dog, deeming it both unwarranted and inhumane.
Brandon Upchurch, a 38-year-old resident of Toledo, shared with ABC News that he experienced being bitten multiple times on his forearm and elbow by the K-9 unit, following a traffic stop on April 11. As a result of the incident, Upchurch has been unable to work.
In the footage, Upchurch exclaims, “I’m not doing anything, man!” He then proceeds to question the officers, repeatedly asking, “What did I do?”
As the officer handcuffed Upchurch, he informed him that the truck had a stolen license plate. Upchurch vehemently denied these accusations.
After Upchurch asks for medical attention, an officer assures him that it will be provided. As the officer walks away, he dismissively refers to Upchurch as a “petulant child” for making the request.
After arresting Upchurch, the officers in the video can be heard acknowledging that the license plate information they had was incorrect. They realized that it was a “mishit” or “misread” by the license plate reader. It turned out that the license plate on the vehicle Upchurch was driving did not match the plate on the alleged stolen vehicle.
The officer confidently asserts that it is not the plate causing the issue.
According to Upchurch, he wasn’t posing a threat or attempting to flee, as he stated during his interview with ABC News.
Upchurch expressed his dismay over the unnecessary escalation of the situation due to a missing license plate. He asserted that a simple action of running the plates again would have revealed that it was not stolen.
“He assured me that I have all the necessary documentation, including a license and insurance,” he stated confidently. “It’s all recorded on his body camera that he acknowledged his mistake.”
Upchurch faced charges of resisting arrest and obstruction. According to the complaint, it was alleged that he disregarded multiple commands from the officers during their investigation of a stolen vehicle and persistently failed to comply throughout the entire incident.
The NAACP branch in Toledo is calling for a comprehensive investigation into the incident, drawing parallels to the use of police dogs on Black demonstrators during the Civil Rights era.
In a statement released on Friday, the organization emphasized that the role of our police is to serve our communities, rather than to occupy them, even in situations where they suspect a violation of the law. They highlighted the importance of fairness and justice in the way our police interact with community members, acknowledging that there can be instances where officers may be misinformed.
The statement emphasized that incidents like this not only hinder the progress of fostering positive community and police relations but also highlight the urgent need for training. It firmly stated, “We are determined not to regress to the state of affairs in the 1960s!”
He expressed his belief that if they had sneezed incorrectly, the outcome would have been unfavorable.
