Kent cop punched K9 who wouldn't stop biting innocent bystander
Kent Police Officer Ethan Tudor's K9 wouldn't stop mauling a man who was just going to a movie, so he punched him repeatedly in the head.
A Kent police K9 officer lost control of his dog, who attacked a bystander for more than a minute in March, according to records obtained by DivestSPD. Officer Ethan Tudor tried punching K9 Frank repeatedly, but the dog would not release its bite. The dog ultimately let the man go after another officer hit it in the teeth with a flashlight.
Tudor was one of several Kent police officers who responded to a call on March 18 at the AMC Theater about a man and a woman in their 20s harassing people. A witness told officers that the male suspect was last seen headed south away from the theater on 1st Ave. Other officers were en route to the intersection of E Smith and 1st Avenue, where the suspect was ultimately arrested.
According to his report, Tudor decided to walk with K9 Frank toward the location where the suspect likely was. They were operating in a “standby capacity in case the suspect attempted to flee towards the transit center or circle back north on 1st Ave S.”
The K9 team was walking east on W Temperance when they came across a man who had just left the theater. K9 Frank rushed the man, and Tudor lost his grip on the leash “due to the rain and wet weather,” he claimed.
Screaming “No, No, No,” Tudor trailed after K9 Frank as he bit into the man’s arm. The man frantically repeated, “I didn’t do nothing,” and Tudor replied, “I know.”
The man continued crying out in pain as Tudor tried to pull Frank off by the collar. Another officer ran up and grabbed the man by the arm. Tudor yelled “aus,” the German command for “let go,” and punched the dog three times in the head. The other officer used a flashlight to pry open Frank’s jaws, and Tudor fell to the ground clasping Frank by the collar.
The man was transported to the hospital to receive treatment for deep lacerations.
Problem Dog, Problem Handler or Both?
This incident raises questions about K9 Frank’s training, Officer Tudor’s fitness as a handler, and the Kent Police Department’s policies and practices regarding K9 use.
For starters, Tudor’s decision to deploy Frank was dubious. The K9 team added little value to the operation relative to the risk of an unintentional bite. At around 10:20 pm, foot traffic around the theater was sparse but significant, as a movie had just ended.
Multiple cruisers were in the vicinity. Downtown Kent mostly consists of businesses, which were closed at the time, leaving few places to hide. The nearest residential or wooded areas were almost half a mile away.
Kent police officers could (and did) easily contain and arrest the harassment suspect without the help of a K9. In fact, they were arresting him at the exact moment Tudor was struggling to regain control of Frank.
Tudor had Frank on a 30-foot leash. Though Tudor claimed to be “on standby” and merely walking Frank to a position to intercept the suspect, should he decide to flee, the dog behaved as if it were tracking.
Handlers are trained to orient their dogs toward a suspect’s scent at the place last seen. Tudor did not do so. Apparently, the trail was contaminated, and Frank followed the first scent he found, leading him directly to the man he attacked.
Serious control problems don’t just appear overnight. Tudor and Frank are a relatively new team. They were certified a little over a year before this incident. In that short time, Frank had an unusually high number of bites.
According to records from the Washington Criminal Justice Training Commission, Tudor reported five bites before this incident, which is about how many bites the entire Seattle police K9 unit averages each year
Frank’s control issues bear a disturbing resemblance to those of Seattle police K9 Jedi, who had a similar incident early in his career with handler Anthony Ducre. Jedi broke free and attacked a handcuffed suspect. The Office of Police Accountability recorded that Jedi ignored Ducre’s release commands in at least two more instances. Later, Jedi attacked a woman in Tukwila during a training exercise.
Jedi was so resistant to verbal commands that the K9 unit equipped him with a shock collar. He was wearing the collar on the day that Ducre ordered him to bite a naked man in crisis armed with a knife and a machete. Jedi continued to bite despite the remote shocks and was fatally stabbed.
KPD is investigating the incident at the AMC theater, per the WACJTC. Officer Ethan Tudor is not currently on administrative leave. He made $167,601 last year.
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There is no reason to use dogs for anything other than locating people in remote locations. They are great helpers in rural or mountainous environments. Law enforcement doesn't need to use dogs precisely for the reasons in this article. We have allowed a tool for rescue and recovery into the wrong environment. It's a holdover from slave patrols