Two Alaska state troopers charged with assault after violently arresting wrong person

Two Alaska State Troopers have been charged with misdemeanor assault after using pepper spray, a taser and a canine while arresting a man on a warrant that had been issued for a different person, authorities announced Thursday.

Two Alaska State Troopers have been charged with misdemeanor assault after using pepper spray, a taser and a canine while arresting a man on a warrant that had been issued for a different person, authorities announced Thursday. Sgt. Joseph Miller and canine handler Jason Woodruff have both been charged with fourth-degree assault for the May 24 incident, Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Public Safety James Cockrell announced in a news conference Thursday. “I’ve been with this department 33 years, and I’ve never seen any action like this before by an Alaska State Trooper,” Cockrell said. “Because of their actions, there was significant injuries to the person that went to the hospital that was in that vehicle.” An arraignment for the officers is scheduled on September 10. The two troopers broke out the rear window of a man’s car, pepper sprayed him, used a taser, and ordered a police dog to repeatedly bite him while attempting to arrest him, authorities said. It wasn’t until officers took him to the hospital for treatment that they realized that they had arrested the cousin of the man they were seeking. Both men had the same last name. The two troopers originally responded to a car parked in a public right of way in Soldotna on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula, southwest of Anchorage. The car was registered to a man with an active misdemeanor warrant, according to Cockrell.