TULSA, Okla. — Dylan Harris is a Tulsa man experiencing homelessness and struggling with drug addiction.
Police arrested him last week. Now after being released from jail, he is asking the community to help find his dog.
A bystander captured the arrest on video, and it was later uploaded to the NextDoor app, reaching almost 12,000 viewers before being removed.
The footage shows a Tulsa police officer tasing and kicking a dog while they arrested Harris.
“I had nightmares of him getting tased while I was in there, and then I saw the video, and it’s like a lot worse than I thought,” said Harris.
Harris came to 2 News to share his side of the story in hopes that someone may know where Loop, the brown Boxer in the video, can be found. He told 2 News he got into an argument with a friend near the Denver House. When it escalated, someone called the police.
Captain Richard Meulenberg with the Tulsa Police Department said the officers responded to the area after calls of someone being assaulted. When they approached Harris, Meulenberg said he did not cooperate, which is why the officers acted.
“The suspect had the two dogs, one dog was on a tether, and one was not, so they asked him several times, ‘Hey, put the dog on a leash, put the dog on a leash,’ they asked him six times, and he didn’t do it,” said Meulenberg. “There was some yelling back and forth, so he wasn’t being compliant.”
Harris admitted admit he can get ‘mouthy’ and be difficult when dealing with authority. However, he said he didn’t feel any of the treatment to him or his dog was fair, and the situation shouldn’t have gotten as physical as it did.
“They asked me too, they’re like, ‘Why didn’t you just go put your dogs up and secure them to the fence?’ And I was like, ‘you didn’t give me enough time at all, all you said was secure your dog - pop pop pop – secure your dog,’” said Harris.
The officers used a taser and pepper balls to keep Loop away from Harris so they could arrest him. Meulenberg said the officer kicked the dog after the dog nipped one of them. As far as the department's procedures for dealing with animals during arrests, Meulenberg said it is handled in a case-by-case manner.
“I couldn’t tell you what the dog’s intentions were, but I can tell you that the officers do have to protect themselves, and that’s what happened in this situation,” said Meulenberg.
“In some other universe, this might be the kindest, gentlest, most loving animal in the entire universe. We don’t know that. All we know is we’re trying to arrest someone who just assaulted somebody, and here you have another variable coming up presenting a threat.”
Meulenberg said he realized the dog was just coming to his owner’s defense as any dog would. Harris said Loop is not an aggressive dog. He said since being given Loop in July, the two have been inseparable. Loop is the bright spot in his life on the streets.
“I’m off of fentanyl and heroin for a little over a year now, almost a year actually, struggling with methamphetamine,” said Harris. “But if not for Loop entering my life, I would probably be dead from that.
Harris faces assault and battery charges from this weekend’s altercation. He hopes by speaking up, someone can help him locate his brown Boxer Loop.
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