CINCINNATI — Cincinnati's top police union official is standing by officers who used a police dog to bite a 16-year-old during a warrant execution in April, arguing the teenager is lucky to be alive.
The teen, now 17, told us in a sit-down interview on Nov. 25 that he was asleep in bed when Cincinnati police officers arrived at his mother's home with a warrant for his arrest. He had allegedly violated the conditions of his electronic monitoring by leaving the house weeks earlier in connection with a pending felony auto theft case.
"I was on top of the bed asleep, and then once I just felt the dog biting me, that's when I tried to hop up," the teen told WCPO. "I was asleep. I ain't hear nothing. I just feel something latch onto my arm. So, I tried to hop out of the bed and run, like, get to somebody, because I just feel something just bite in my arm and they wouldn't let go."
Body camera footage shows officers giving commands for several minutes before deploying the K-9.
"Tell him we're going to send a dog in if he doesn't come out," an officer can be heard saying in the video obtained through a public records request.
WATCH: Cincinnati FOP president stands by officers who deployed a K9 on a teenager during a warrant execution
Union president defends deployment
Fraternal Order of Police President Ken Kober said the decision to deploy the K-9 was justified because officers had seen a photo on social media showing the teen inside a stolen vehicle with a gun the night before they served the felony warrant.
"The night before, they saw on this kid's social media that he was in a stolen car, brandishing a gun. So that changes everything," Kober told us Monday. "This is exactly what these dogs are used for."
Kober, who spent eight years working with police dogs, said the K-9 deployment represents the safest possible outcome for everyone involved.
"As a parent, I hope my kid is never in this situation, but if they are, I would much rather my kid get bit by a dog than have a policeman go in there pointing guns at him," he said. "Unfortunately, this is the best-case scenario for everybody to at least walk out of here alive."
The April incident occurred after officers had already made multiple attempts to arrest the teenager, Kober said. About two weeks earlier, officers had allegedly found the teen hiding in the basement behind boxes when serving the original warrant.
On the day of the K-9 deployment, the teen's mother, Micki Mapp, gave officers consent to enter the home, Kober said. Mapp corroborated that when we spoke with her, though she claimed she wasn't aware officers would be bringing a dog.
"I was highly upset and shocked to tears to see my kid standing there bloody and surrounded by so many officers," Mapp told us on Nov. 25.
Kober dismissed the teenager's claim that he was asleep and unaware of the police presence outside. Body camera footage shows four people exiting the house before officers released the dog to search for the teen.
"It's kind of hard to believe that you would sleep through that," Kober said. "I find it hard to believe that when you have four other people that exit the home, that nobody told him that, 'Hey, the police are here. They're looking for you.'"
Attorney disputes social media claims
The teen's attorney strongly disputes Kober's claims about social media evidence.
Ali Archual, a trial attorney with the Hamilton County Public Defender's Office Youth Defense Division who represented the teen, said she was never provided with any such social media post during the legal proceedings.
"Defense counsel has never seen or been provided with the social media post referenced by the FOP, and notably, evidence of such a post was never disclosed while T.H.'s cases were pending. T.H. was never charged with any offenses related to any such post," Archual said in an email Monday.
"The assertion that an unverified social media post justified unleashing an attack dog on a sleeping 16-year-old is illogical, inhumane, and ultimately fails to hold the person or people who made that decision accountable," she added.
When we first spoke with Archual, she called the incident unnecessary and extreme.
"You know, I watch a lot of body-worn in my job, and this is just kind of the most excessively brutal thing I've ever seen," Archual said.
Archual said she discovered through a public records request that the police canine used in the incident had never been used to apprehend and detain a suspect before.
"To utilize a canine in that way, for the first time, on a child, I think, is really concerning and troubling, and again, just seemed really unnecessary," Archual said.
Kober dismissed that concern, arguing that every K-9 must experience its first deployment and that all police dogs are trained and certified before being used in the field.
"Cincinnati police actually has one of the most restrictive canine policies, not only in the county, but likely in the country, when it comes to stuff like this," Kober said. "Years ago, when I was in the canine unit, you could deploy a dog for a stolen car. Can't do it anymore. You're not allowed, you know, just, just for a stolen car. Now, if they have a gun — absolutely. But these dogs are designed to give a police officer enough time to be able to save themselves, especially in an armed encounter."
Without the alleged social media evidence showing the teen with a weapon, Kober acknowledged officers likely would not have used the dog.
"Likely not, just because the charges were felonies, but they weren't violent felonies," Kober said. "But the fact that they believe he's reasonably believed to be armed, considering he's flashing a gun in videos, that's what makes them use a dog."
Kober argued that the social media posts gave officers a reasonable belief that the teenager was armed, even if the evidence might not meet criminal prosecution standards.
Charges dismissed
The electronic monitoring violation that prompted the warrant was dismissed the day after the incident, along with the original theft case, according to Archual. The obstruction of official business charge stemming from the April incident was dismissed in October.
Kober said he's not surprised by the developments but that it also doesn't change his view of the officers' actions.
"Especially the juvenile court, the way it's been, doesn't surprise me in the least that the charges have been dropped," Kober said. "It doesn't change the fact that he had a felony warrant. He's seen armed with a gun the night before. The police officers have to be safe."
Union president stands firm
When asked about critics who view using a police dog on a teenager as excessive force, Kober remained firm in his position.
"You're not going to change your mind. I mean, you look at teenagers who are shooting and killing each other all the time," he said. "If he would have surrendered, we wouldn't have to worry about it. It's not like this is a warrant he did not know about. He had every opportunity. He had 13 days that he could have just gone to the police department and said, 'I'm gonna turn myself in."
A draft report obtained through a public records request shows a supervisor reviewed the body camera video and approved the use of the K-9. According to CPD's Use of Force policy, officers are permitted to use "reasonable" force if persuasion, warnings and tactical positioning don't work.
A K-9 deployment is justified when a "serious criminal suspect is actively resisting or fleeing," according to the policy.
"It struck me as abnormal, particularly where he was charged with something non-violent. They were there for really the simple allegation that he had left his house when he wasn't supposed to," Archual told us on November 25.
Kober said officers followed policy and protocol that day, describing the incident's handling as "textbook."
"This is the best-case scenario," said Kober. "This kid's still alive. This could have ended a lot differently."
