Two Alaska State Trooper officers who pepper-sprayed, beat, stunned and used a police dog on a man in a case of mistaken identity have been charged with assault, authorities said Thursday.
Charging documents state that the officers — dog handler Jason Woodruff and Sergeant Joseph Miller — believed they were dealing with Garrett Tikka, a man wanted for failing to serve a 10-day sentence for driving on a suspended license, on May 24 when they stopped an SUV parked in the Kenai Peninsula community of Soldotna, southwest of Anchorage.
Instead, the man in the vehicle was Garrett Tikka’s cousin, Ben Tikka, according to charges filed Tuesday by the Office of Special Prosecutions in the Alaska Attorney General’s Office. The arrest left Ben Tikka bleeding and requiring surgery to repair torn muscles. He also suffered a broken shoulder, lacerations to his head and an open dog bite on his upper left arm.
At a news conference Thursday announcing the charges, authorities said they would not release bodycam video of the arrest until the criminal case is resolved. But Alaska Department of Public Safety Commissioner James Cockrell said he had never seen anything like it in his 33 years with the department.
“I was absolutely sickened by what I saw,” Cockrell said.
Woodruff’s attorney, Clint Campion, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Online court records did not list an attorney for Miller, and The Associated Press could not immediately find valid contact information for him.
Miller, 49, has been with the Alaska State Troopers for 14 years, and was recently assigned as a shift supervisor in Soldotna. Woodruff, 42, has been with the troopers for 16 years.
They were each charged with one count of assault and are scheduled to appear in court in Kenai on Sept. 10. Both have been placed on administrative leave, Cockrell said, and the department is reviewing several previous cases they’ve been involved in for possible policy violations.
The case began with a call about possible illegal camping in a vehicle at a dog park in Soldotna. Officers were informed that the SUV was associated with Garrett Tikka, but they could not confirm who was inside before telling the occupant he was wanted on an outstanding warrant and ordering him to leave, the complaint said.
Ben Tikka responded that he was not the subject of any such order and that he did not immediately get out of the vehicle.
Miller smashed a rear window with a baton and then fired pepper spray inside. When Tikka got out, Miller kicked him in the shin, punched him in the back of the head or neck, and stepped on his head.
He then repeatedly used a stun gun on him while another officer, who has not been charged, tried to handcuff him. At one point, Miller accidentally stunned the other officer, the charging documents said.
As Tikka lay on his stomach with his hands behind his back, he was bitten repeatedly by police dog Olex. Minutes earlier, the dog had also bitten his owner, Woodruff, the documents show.
Tikka tried to get away from the dog and Woodruff ordered him to continue biting; the dog complied and attacked Tikka, while Tikka, covered in blood, obeyed the order to put his hands up and pleaded, “Please stop the dog. Please stop the dog.”
The dog has been decommissioned, Cockrell said.
It wasn’t until Tikka was taken to the hospital that another officer confirmed it was Ben Tikka and not Garrett.
Officers arrested Ben Tikka on multiple counts, including fourth-degree assault, for placing officers in fear of physical harm. The Kenai District Attorney’s Office later dismissed the case.
According to Deputy Attorney General John Skidmore, the state has previously filed excessive force charges against police officers in Bethel and Anchorage, but he could not recall a similar charge ever being filed against an officer in his 25 years of working for the state.
According to the charging papers, Miller told investigators that no force would have been used if Tikka had simply gotten out of the vehicle and complied with commands. When asked if the force used by officers in this situation was reasonable, he replied, “As far as I know, yes.”
Alaska Bureau of Investigation investigators said Woodruff told them he was following his training in using the dog on Tikka. He described Tikka as “super pissed off” when he got out of the vehicle.
“Was he throwing punches or anything? No. He was still resisting, though,” Woodruff quoted the charging documents as saying.
