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A lawsuit alleges Logan officers tased a motionless man so a police dog would attack him
By: David Forster
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — A lawsuit filed Monday accuses Logan police officers of tasing a man lying motionless on the ground to get him moving so a police dog would attack, leaving the man with severe injuries.
The incident reflects a pattern of disproportionately high taser use by Logan police — and one officer in particular — compared with other cities, the lawsuit alleges. It also reflects a culture within the Logan Police Department that tolerates excessive force even when it violates internal policies, the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court by Zachary Vaughan against the city of Logan, Police Chief Jerry Mellinger and officers Devin Alford and Kyle Arnett.
On April 7, 2024, the two officers responded to a report of a shoplifting at a Speedway gas station. Vaughan was in the parking lot and matched the description of the suspect.
One or both of the officers “knew or had reason to believe” Vaughan had mental health disabilities, the lawsuit alleges.
Officer Alford ordered Vaughan to face a gas station wall and then pinned Vaughan’s right arm behind his back to control him. Vaughan’s left arm was pressed against the wall.
This is shown in one of several images from body cam footage included in the lawsuit.
Body cam footage shows Vaughan was not resisting, the lawsuit alleges. Still, both Alford and Officer Arnett tased Vaughan.
Vaughan fell to the ground and both officers continued to tase him, the lawsuit alleges. Vaughan rolled onto his stomach. Alford was on top, holding Vaughan’s left hand behind his back.
Alford ordered Vaughan to put his right hand back and threatened to order his police dog to attack if Vaughan didn’t comply. Vaughan did not but also was not resisting in any way, the lawsuit alleges.
“Having just been tased and with two officers on top of him, it is not clear whether Zach was able to move his right hand from underneath his body or to process what the Officers were yelling,” according to the lawsuit, which references Vaughan by his first name. “Under the circumstances, the Officers knew or should have known Zach was only trying to protect himself from further injury by the Officers.”
More tasing, then a dog attacks
While Arnett controlled Vaughan on the ground, Alford went to get the dog from the back of his patrol car.
Body camera footage shows that when Alford returned with the dog, Vaughan was in the same position on the ground “lying perfectly still with Arnett’s taser in his back,” according to the lawsuit. Vaughan’s left hand was still behind his back even though no one was holding it there anymore.
“The only thing Zach did at that point was plead ‘help me,’” according to the lawsuit.
Alford ordered the dog at least five times to bite Vaughan.
The lawsuit alleges that according to Alford’s own police report, the dog, consistent with its training, refused the repeated commands to attack Vaughan because he was not moving.
Alford told Arnett to tase him again, the lawsuit alleges. He did, causing Vaughan to twitch.
Vaughan then “screamed for help and immediately put both his hands behind his back,” according to the lawsuit. Body cam footage shows what happened next, according to the lawsuit:
“As the Officers each held one of Zach’s hands behind his back, Alford began to handcuff Zach. Although the Officers had control over Zach, Arnett then chose to tase Zach yet again anyway.
“Zach’s body twitched in response to being gratuitously tased yet again, and when it did, Alford repeated his command for the police dog to attack.
“Unlike Alford’s first five commands, this time Zach was ‘moving’ because Arnett continued tasing him, causing his body to twitch from the electric shock. As a result, the dog attacked. For approximately the next minute, Zach remained prone on the ground as the Officers watched the police dog maul him.”
A Hocking County sheriff’s deputy arrived. He and Arnett attempted to handcuff Vaughan’s right wrist but could not because the injuries from the attack were too severe, the lawsuit alleges.
Vaughan suffered multiple tears to his right wrist, hand, arm and ear, and an emergency room physician described his wounds as severe and deep, the lawsuit alleges. This included “a gash to his right forearm two inches long and four inches deep that was actively bleeding from an artery the dog lacerated,” according to the lawsuit.
Vaughan was transported by medical helicopter to a hospital in Columbus for surgery, according to the lawsuit.
Allegations of high rates of taser use by the Logan PD
Alford and Arnett both completed reports containing false information contradicted by body cam footage, the lawsuit alleges.
“For instance, Arnett falsely claimed that Zach tried to turn around and resist Alford when Alford placed him against the gas station wall and first tried to handcuff him,” according to the lawsuit. “The body camera footage shows that is not true. Alford made the same false claim.”
The lawsuit alleges the Logan Police Department has a history of taser use in violation of department protocols. Police records show that Alford “repeatedly used a taser on individuals merely because they were fleeing from police and/or even if they were not actively resisting, in violation of both the stated policy and the Fourth Amendment,” according to the lawsuit.
Alford was not disciplined for this, and the department failed to hold other officers accountable for violating taser policy, the lawsuit alleges. This has “created a culture within the Logan police department where officers can use excessive force without fear of consequences,” according to the lawsuit.
Records show that in a three-year period leading up to the incident with Vaughan, Logan officers used tasers “at dramatically and disproportionately higher rates per capita than even the large cities in Ohio with higher rates of violent crime,” according to the lawsuit.
The Logan department had more than 20 officers during that three-year period, and police reports show Alford was responsible for around one-third of all taser deployments by the entire department during the period.
The police chief and other city officials “knew or should have known that Alford was prone to using excessive force” and failed to properly investigate or discipline him, the lawsuit alleges.
Vaughan is seeking compensation for his physical and psychological injuries and well as punitive damages against Alford and Arnett.
WOUB reached out to Logan Police Chief Jerry Mellinger for comment but did not receive a response by the time this story was published.