2 Sterling Heights officers facing charges for allegedly making police K9 bite man they already had surrounded

STERLING HEIGHTS (WWJ) — A pair of Sterling Heights police officers have been charged for what Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel calls a “horrific” case of misconduct involving a police dog earlier this year.

Nessel announced Tuesday 31-year-old James Sribniak and 29-year-old Jack Currie have been charged in 39th District Court in Roseville for an incident back in February.

The officers have each been charged with one count of misconduct in office — a five-year felony — and felonious assault — a four-year felony.

On Feb. 25, according to the AG’s office, Sribniak and Currie were involved in a police chase that stemmed from a Roseville domestic violence incident who fled a traffic stop. At some point, the suspect got out of his car and ran, and the officers gave chase.

Officers eventually chased down the suspect and had him surrounded on the ground, according to Nessel’s office. After he had already been tased twice, Currie allegedly urged Sribniak to deploy his K9 to bite the suspect.

Sribniak, controlling the K9, ordered the dog to bite the suspect, which he did, on the suspect’s posterior right hip, according to the AG’s office.

Nessel said while K9 assistance can be “a valuable tool for law enforcement,” it “must be deployed with good judgment."

“K9 Officers are rigorously trained in the proper use of police dogs and should be held to the highest standards of conduct. We should be able to trust them to not deploy a dog as an unnecessary and unlawful punitive measure to brutally attack a human being,” Nessel said in a press release.

“In this incident, deploying a K9 on a suspect already on the ground and well-surrounded by officers is not only horrific but illegal. My office remains committed to thoroughly investigating and prosecuting police misconduct,” she said.

Sribniak and Currie have not yet been arraigned, and future court dates have not yet been set.