SPOKANE, Wash. — Spokane Police Department Internal Investigation documents detail interviews Officer Dan Lesser had following the use of force complaint made over the arrest of Lucas Ellerman.
The February arrest led to the Spokane City Council and the Spokane Police Department being at odds over the release of the footage amid concerns over the use of the K9. City Council President Ben Stuckart told KREM the police department asked council members to sign a non-disclosure agreement to view the footage, which all members refused to do.
The Internal Affairs investigation found that K9 officer Dan Lesser violated policy when he didn't start his body camera at the start of the chase and in his language and demeanor in speaking with Ellerman. Officer Mark Brownell was also found to have violated body camera policy.
Neither Lesser, Brownell or Scott Lesser were found to have violated use-of-force policy in pointing a gun at Ellerman, the Spokane Police Department found.
Internal Affairs interviewed Dan Lesser on June 18, 2019 regarding Ellerman’s arrest, according to documents KREM 2 obtained in a public records request. During the interview, Lesser explains why he used strong language and his decision to send his K9 partner into the enclosed cab of the pickup truck where Ellerman was held up.
According to an Internal Affairs report from Sergeant John Everly, Everly asked Lesser why he told Ellerman, “I’m going to f****** shoot you! I’m going to f****** kill you!”
Lesser said, “Based on that I…yes, the language was rough and course, but I felt that I had to disrupt his thought process to get him thinking about me and stop him from hurting us.”
According to the IA report, Lesser said he believed Ellerman was armed and he didn’t want to go back to prison. Lesser said he used this language to disrupt what he called “Observed Orient Decide Act,” according to the report.
Lesser later explains that disrupting Ellerman’s “Observed Orient Decide Act” is a de-escalation technique, the report states.
“So, he has to observe something, orientate himself to it, then he has to decide to act,” Lesser explained during the interview. “Yes, the language was rough and course. I don’t do it all the time, but I felt I had to step…step up my game and get him to think about something else. And I’m also required by…by law that I have to give a warning if force is going to be used.”
Later in the interview, the report said Everly asked Lesser why he told Officer Scott Lesser to go get his K9.
“Cause it was…it was completely apparent to me that Ellerman was looking…Ellerman is the type of guy that he’s always looking for an opportunity to escape. He’s always looking for an opportunity to get away,” Lesser said in the report. “Again, there’s been several court cases throughout the years that a use of a police K9 is non…is non-lethal. In fact, it even stops police officers from having to use lethal force, because a K9 is used as a tool that prevents that. So I felt it was safer based on the closed environment.
According to the report, Lesser explained that he didn’t want to crawl into the pickup and fight with Ellerman. He also said he couldn’t see his hands, the report said.
The report said Everly later asked Lesser if he felt he had the legal authority to use lethal force before he got his K9.
“Absolutely. In fact, I’m surprised I didn’t,” Lesser said in the report.
Everly asked him why he didn’t use force, the report said.
“I’ve been involved in critical incidents in the past and I’m not quite sure why I didn’t shoot him when I probably should have, but I chose not to at that time.”
Ellerman is currently serving a sentence of 70 months in the Airway Heights Correctional Center, followed by a year of parole.