Brickbat: Bad Dog
Bradley Page has filed a federal lawsuit against the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office, and several officers over an incident that took place in February 2025 on Interstate 10. Page, who was suffering a stroke, had pulled to the side of the road. Body camera footage shows that officers apparently did not consider that Page might be experiencing a medical emergency, despite his confused behavior and difficulty following commands. Instead, they treated the situation as a standoff. Officers surrounded his vehicle and shot out his front and back windows with rubber bullets. When Page put his arm outside the window, a Pinal County deputy released a K-9 that bit and held onto Page's arm for more than a minute, as officers yanked him out through the broken window. The bite caused deep damage to Page's muscles, tendons, and blood vessels, and he requiring reconstructive surgery. Officers then congratulated the dog and each other on pulling Page from the car. They then left him handcuffed in a patrol car for over an hour before taking him to a hospital, where providers determined that he had suffered a stroke and found no illegal drugs in his system. Page was initially charged with failing to comply with an officer and reckless driving, but those charges were later dismissed.