Dayton police use of force probe follows arrest

A Dayton police use of force investigation is underway after a man was dragged from a police cruiser and repeatedly punched by one officer and stunned by a Taser as several officers placed him under arrest Friday.

Shane Sprague, 36, has visible cuts and bruises in his booking photo at the Montgomery County Jail, where he is being detained on charges of obstructing official business and resisting arrest.

In a video taken by a witness -- and in Dayton police cruiser cam video of the arrest in an alley near Main Street and Marathon Avenue -- officers can be seen pulling Sprague from the back of a police cruiser and forcing him to the ground. While two officers attempt to position his arms behind his back to place him in handcuffs, Sprague continues to fight.

A third officer arrives and punches Sprague three times, and it takes a fourth officer and multiple "hits" from two Tasers for police to finally get both of Sprague's arms in position for the handcuffs.

Any time an officer strikes a suspect or uses a Taser, a "use of force" investigation is completed by a sergeant, Maj. Matt Carper, commander of the department's west patrol division, said Monday. The Sprague case is under review, but Carper said what he has seen so far does not indicate that officers used undue force trying to arrest the man.

"The subject resisted a lawful arrest and had no legal right to do so," Carper said. "From all the evidence I've seen, I haven't seen any policy violations."

After stopping Sprague's vehicle on a traffic violation for failure to signal, Officer Terry Perdue secured Sprague in the back of the police cruiser because he did not have proper identification on him. Carper said that is standard policy when a suspect is not under arrest.

Police later located an ID card in the vehicle and determined Sprague did not have a valid license and was wanted in Xenia on a warrant for failure to appear. Once Perdue informed Sprague he was under arrest and asked him to turn around to be placed in handcuffs, Sprague refused, according to a police incident report.

"I want to call my lawyer," Sprague can be heard yelling continually at officers in the cruiser cam video as police tell him to "get out of the car," to "stop resisting" and to "put your hands behind your back."

Perdue grabs Sprague's legs to pull him out of the cruiser and wrestles with him on the ground in an attempt to place him in handcuffs.

According to the incident report, Officer Justin Ellis -- who was on scene with Perdue -- used his Taser, as did Officer Alex Magill, who arrived to assist in the arrest. In the cruiser cam video, one of the three officers on scene -- not identified by Dayton police -- can be seen punching Sprague three times.

Once the fourth officer arrived, identified as Officer Matthew Osterday, police were able to get Sprague into handcuffs and put him in the back of the cruiser. Sprague was taken to Grandview Hospital for treatment before being booked into jail, according to the report.

He is to be arraigned Tuesday afternoon in Dayton Municipal Court.

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