Canton fires officer after use of K-9

The City of Canton announced that an officer who used a K-9 on a man during an arrest — drawing outrage from the community — has been terminated.

Mayor William Sherer released the following statement on the firing of officer Nicholas Castro:

“The residents of Canton deserve to feel safe and protected by those appointed and sworn by an oath to do so. The behavior exhibited by Officer Nicholas Casto is not a reflection of the men and women of the Canton Police Department that wake up every morning with the mission to serve and protect. I fully support Safety Director Perry’s decision to terminate Officer Casto’s employment with the Canton Police Department. Canton deserves better than what we all saw, and we will do better. This is our opportunity to take corrective action on incidents that compromise the integrity of our values as a community. As the Mayor of Canton, nothing means more to me than the trust of this community, and our safety forces. It is my goal that this termination shows our community that we care about the quality of the individuals we send out to serve our residents, and in turn, we show our police officers that only the best deserve to keep Canton safe. I fully support the leadership of our Police Chief John Gabbard and truly believe he is the right person to lead Canton’s finest. Together, we will move Canton forward.”

The decision to terminate Castro came after a recommendation by Gabbard.

RELATED: Canton police chief recommends termination after officer's use of K-9

What happened?

Bodycam video released by Canton police last month shows an incident that occurred in the 1100 block of 16th Street NW.

Police were initially on scene for a traffic stop, and the bodycam video starts after that incident.

Police say a man threatened a police dog.

That’s when one Canton officer says, “I’m about to put this guy in custody.”

Officers approached the man to place him under arrest. Then, the video shows officers taking him to the ground before a K-9 dog is deployed onto him.

“Stop resisting. Stop resisting. Stop resisting,” said one Canton police officer.

In the video, the dog attacks the man for nearly 20 seconds.

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