TULSA, Okla. — Dylan Harris is a Tulsa man experiencing homelessness and combating drug habit. After being launched from jail from a weekend altercation, he’s asking the group to assist him discover his canine.
A bystander captured the arrest on video, and it was later uploaded to the NextDoor app, reaching almost 12,000 viewers earlier than being eliminated. The footage reveals a Tulsa police officer tasing and kicking a canine whereas they arrested Harris.
“I had nightmares of him getting tased while I was in there, and then I saw the video, and it’s like a lot worse than I thought,” mentioned Harris.
Harris got here to 2 News to share his facet of the story in hopes that somebody could know the place Loop, the brown Boxer within the video, is.
Tulsa Police examine altercation between officer and animal amid arrest
He advised us that he received into an argument with a good friend close to the Denver House. When it escalated, somebody referred to as the police.
Captain Richard Meulenberg with the Tulsa Police Department mentioned the officers responded to the realm after calls of somebody being assaulted. When they approached Harris, Meulenberg mentioned he didn’t cooperate, which was when the officers acted.
“The suspect had the two dogs, one dog was on a tether, and one was not, so they asked him several times, ‘Hey, put the dog on a leash, put the dog on a leash,’ they asked him six times, and he didn’t do it,” mentioned Meulenberg. “There was some yelling back and forth, so he wasn’t being compliant.”
Harris does admit that he can get ‘mouthy’ and be tough when coping with authority. However, he mentioned he didn’t really feel any of the therapy to him or his canine was honest, and the scenario shouldn’t have gotten as bodily because it did.
“They asked me too, they’re like, ‘Why didn’t you just go put your dogs up and secure them to the fence?’ And I was like, ‘you didn’t give me enough time at all, all you said was secure your dog – pop pop pop – secure your dog,’” mentioned Harris.
The officers used a taser and pepper balls to maintain Loop away from Harris so they might arrest him. Meulenberg mentioned the officer kicked the canine after he nipped considered one of them.
As far because the division’s procedures for coping with animals amid arrests, Meulenberg mentioned it’s dealt with in a case-by-case method.
“I couldn’t tell you what the dog’s intentions were, but I can tell you that the officers do have to protect themselves, and that’s what happened in this situation,” mentioned Meulenberg. “In some other universe, this might be the kindest, gentlest, most loving animal in the entire universe. We don’t know that. All we know is we’re trying to arrest someone who just assaulted somebody, and here you have another variable coming up presenting a threat.”
Meulenberg mentioned he realized the canine was simply coming to his proprietor’s protection as any canine would.
Meanwhile, Harris mentioned Loop just isn’t an aggressive canine. He mentioned since being given Loop in July, the 2 have been inseparable.
Loop has been the brilliant spot in his life on the streets.
“I’m off of fentanyl and heroine for a little over a year now, almost a year actually, struggling with methamphetamine,” mentioned Harris. “But if not for Loop coming into my life, I might most likely be lifeless from that.
Harris stands assault and battery fees from this weekend’s altercation. He hopes that by talking up, somebody may also help him find his brown Boxer named Loop.
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