The Dayton Police Department is investigating a situation last month in which several officers pulled a paraplegic man from his car after he told them he could not exit.
Police stopped Clifford Owensby on Sept. 30 as he was driving away from what police describe as a suspected drug house. According to police, because of Owensby’s history of felony drug and weapons possession, officers wanted a K-9 to conduct a “free-air” sniff of the vehicle to determine if there were illegal drugs inside, according to a video briefing.
According to the body camera footage released by the department, officers told Owensby that he would need to step out of his vehicle to perform the search. “I cannot step out,” he states to the officers. He explains that he has paraplegia.
Owensby claims they might hurt him, but the unidentified officer tells him that police can help him out of the car. When Owensby requests a “white shirt,” shorthand for a police supervisor, the officer says he will call one after Owensby exits.
