Alaska state troopers used ‘unreasonable’ force, including police dog and Taser, in arrest of wrong man, assault charges say

Two Alaska State Troopers from the Kenai Peninsula are facing assault charges for using excessive force — including a Taser and a lengthy attack by a police dog — while arresting the wrong man, according to rare criminal charges filed against them this week.

Trooper Jason Woodruff and Sgt. Joseph Miller are accused of pulling a 38-year-old Soldotna resident out of a parked GMC Denali SUV at a Kenai park on May 24 after breaking out a rear window and pepper-spraying him inside the vehicle, according to a charging document filed Wednesday and signed on behalf of Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor.

They then allowed a police dog handled by Woodruff to bite the man for more than a minute as the man attempted to comply with commands, screaming and begging for the dog to stop, the document said. Miller also shocked the man with a Taser twice, punched him and stepped on his head, it said.

The man’s injuries included a fractured scapula, muscle lacerations including a torn triceps, and an open bite wound on his upper left arm, according to the charging document.

The case appears to be the first in Alaska involving criminal charges filed against on-duty troopers for using too much force, state law officials said.

Alaska Department of Public Safety Commissioner James Cockrell said Thursday that he was “totally sickened” by the troopers’ conduct and said he had never in his 33 years at the department seen such egregious behavior.

“It’s hard for me to equate how this has affected me and other troopers that wear this uniform,” Cockrell said during a media briefing streamed on social media. “Let me be clear, the actions of these two individuals is not acceptable for me, not in the line of our training and our policy, and I know it’s not acceptable to the Alaskans that we serve.”

Woodruff, 42, has been with the department for 16 years and Miller, 49, has been there for 14 years, Cockrell said. Woodruff most recently worked as a K-9 officer in Soldotna and Miller was a night-shift supervisor also in Soldotna.

Cockrell said both troopers were taken out of service as the Alaska Bureau of Investigations began looking at criminal conduct in early June. They are still employed with the department but are on administrative leave, he said Thursday. He said he did not immediately have details about if the leave was paid or unpaid.

‘Sir please stop’

At the start of the incident on May 24, troopers came to a Kenai dog park looking for Garrett Tikka, wanted on a $150 warrant after he failed to serve a 10-day sentence for driving with a revoked license, according to information filed with charges. But the man they pulled from the vehicle was Tikka’s cousin, 38-year-old Ben Tikka.

During the arrest, the troopers did not ask who was in the car, but rather assumed it was Garrett Tikka, Cockrell said.

“There should have been some additional questions asked before we broke the window and drug him out of his car,” he said.

The charges described a violent arrest even as Ben Tikka tried to comply.

After Miller pepper-sprayed Tikka and Tikka got out of the vehicle, Miller kicked him, then placed his foot on top of Tikka’s head and pushed his face into shattered glass from the broken window, Cockrell said. He also deployed his Taser multiple times during the encounter, at one point momentarily shocking another trooper.

Woodruff repeatedly ordered his dog, K-9 Olex, to bite Ben Tikka, even as he complied with orders and screamed, “My hands are behind my back sir please stop,” according to information in the charging document.

Woodruff himself was bitten by the dog before he ordered it to bite Tikka, the charges said. The dog later refused commands to stop biting, charges said. Cockrell said Thursday that the dog is no longer in service.

Troopers initially arrested Ben Tikka on charges of fourth-degree assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct, but the district attorney’s office in Kenai dismissed those charges.

Cockrell, in a letter on Wednesday afternoon to Department of Public Safety employees, said the force used by Miller and Woodruff “crossed the line” and fell outside department policy, making it a criminal offense.

He said Tikka suffered “severe injuries” during his encounter with the two troopers.

Not a felony

The Office of Special Prosecutions filed fourth-degree misdemeanor assault charges against the troopers on Wednesday.

Deputy Attorney General John Skidmore said during Thursday’s briefing that Tikka’s injuries were not serious enough to qualify as a felony crime.

“The definition of serious physical injury found in our statutes is that it has to be a physical injury that is capable of causing death or serious and protracted disfigurement or the loss or impairment of the use of a body organ or member for some extended period of time,” he said. “And while these injuries did indeed require medical attention, we have not found that there is sufficient evidence to say that it would have met that higher level.”

Images captured by Miller’s body-worn camera and one worn by a Kenai police officer provided footage used in the state’s investigation. Woodruff was “not equipped” with his camera during the incident, the charges say. His camera ran out of batteries while he was uploading videos and he didn’t have it with him when he got the call, according to Cockrell. A third trooper’s body camera was also not activated during the call, the charges said.

Several photos included in the charging document show the dog biting at Tikka’s hand as he tried to get out of the SUV, Tikka grimacing in pain as he leaves the vehicle, and blood covering his face as the dog attacks him. The images document that the troopers’ “use of nondeadly force in arresting Ben Tikka for a misdemeanor warrant was objectively unreasonable” under state statute, and parts of the initial reports they made about the arrest “are inaccurate and contain omissions,” the charges say.

The Alaska Bureau of Investigation’s examination of the troopers’ use of force began June 6. Ben Tikka was also arrested that day for driving without a valid license, according to a Soldotna Police Department release.

Cockrell said a K-9 commander who routinely reviews dog deployments flagged this incident with concerns, which brought it to the attention of colonels and majors in the department. He said they brought it to his attention and he decided a criminal investigation was warranted.

The two troopers each face a single count of fourth-degree misdemeanor assault. Both Miller and Woodruff’s first court appearance is a District Court arraignment next month in Kenai, according to the Alaska Department of Law.

[Previous coverage: Criminal charges dropped for former Anchorage police officer captured on camera punching and kicking man on bicycle]

Neither of them was immediately arrested but rather issued a summons to appear in court. Generally, arrest warrants are issued when a defendant poses a threat to the community, and “there is not a reason that we have concern or belief that these officers pose an ongoing danger to other people,” Skidmore said.

He said arrests for misdemeanors can only be made when the offense occurs in an officer’s presence.

Cockrell on Thursday said there had not been prior complaints about excessive force involving Miller or Woodruff. The department is now reviewing other cases they were involved in, he said.

The department is also reviewing policies “to see if there’s things that we need to change in house to ensure this doesn’t happen again,” Cockrell said.

“I knew both the troopers involved, I’ve been stationed on the Kenai Peninsula, so certainly it hits home. ... This is not what the Alaska State Troopers stand for, certainly not what I stand for,” he said. “And as long as I’m commissioner, we’re not going to allow this type of activity or what I consider gross misconduct by our troopers. The troopers mean a lot to this state. We are the only state law enforcement. This is painful, not only for us, but it’s painful for our troopers that have to deal with it and I’m sure they’ll get some feedback from the public as they’re doing their duties.”

The assault represents a relatively rare instance where on-duty law enforcement officers are found to commit acts egregious enough to be criminally charged. Skidmore noted that a Bethel police officer and an Anchorage police officer had previously been charged in relation to excessive force, but this is the first case he was aware of involving troopers. The charges were first reported by the Alaska Landmine.

Skidmore said Thursday that body-camera footage of the encounter will not be released until the criminal case is closed because it could taint the jury pool and jeopardize the case.

[Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said two Alaska state troopers were arrested on assault charges. They were charged with assault but not arrested. An earlier version also said Ben and Garrett Tikka are brothers. They are cousins.]