By Patrick Darrington
al.com
FLORENCE, Ala. — An Alabama man was bitten by a K-9 while being arrested by the Florence Police Department on Wednesday.
But the man, identified as David Culliver, 46, of Sheffield, responded by biting the dog back.
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About 12 minutes of body camera footage released by the department depicts the encounter between Culliver and police that were helping to execute a search warrant in the 200 block of North Locust Street.
“Culliver was not involved in the investigation and inserted himself into the situation,” the department said in a Facebook post. “He became belligerent, yelled at officers, and stepped into an active roadway with flowing traffic.”
In body camera footage from ”officer 1” Culliver is seen walking up to officers several times seemingly intoxicated and has several exchanges with them.
Officer 1 asks Culliver if he needs to go to jail for DUI and Culliver responds by saying, ”I need to go to jail for kicking your ... ass.”
None of the officers indicated Culliver to be a threat during this encounter and he is unarmed.
According to a timestamp of events, it took about 20 more minutes until Culliver walked back towards police resulting in officer 1 initiating an arrest.
During the attempted arrest, Culliver asks why he is being arrested and can be seen struggling as four officers surround him.
Body cam footage from “officer 2” or the K-9 officer shows him behind the four officials and telling them to “watch out” or they’ll get bit.
As one officer holds Culliver’s upper body and another holds his legs, the dog is commanded to bite him.
Culliver grabs the dog’s leg as he is being bitten and several officers strike him in the head and upper body before he lets go.
“Let go of my dog,” officer 2 said.
“Your dog got me,” Culliver responded.
That is when Culliver bites the dog and is struck several more times before eventually being handcuffed by police.
“The incident has been thoroughly reviewed, and the use of force applied has been determined to be justified,” Florence police said.
Culliver was taken to North Alabama Medical Center to be treated for his K-9 wounds and then taken to the Lauderdale County Detention Center.
He has a $2,500 bond and is charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, public intoxication and interfering with a police dog.
The quick release of the police body camera footage, especially involving a K-9, is rare in Alabama given the state’s laws regarding police disclosure of such records.
The Florence Police Department said the footage was released to combat “brief clips” on social media from witnesses showing Culliver’s arrest from a “limited perspective.”
According to an AL.com investigation of police dog attacks, officers often use them on unarmed individuals, like Culliver, and can result in severe injury or even death.
AL.com left a message seeking comment from the Florence Police Department.
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