Alaska troopers brutally beat man in mistaken arrest, prosecutors say

James Cockrell, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Public Safety, said at a news conference Thursday that he put both troopers on administrative leave and had been the one to refer their cases for a criminal investigation.

“I was totally sickened by what I saw,” he said, adding that they caused significant injuries. “I’ve been with this department for 33 years, and I’ve never seen any action like this before.”

Both troops had been on the force for more than a decade, and Cockrell said the department will revisit older cases that the two had been involved in for possible policy violations.

Authorities said body-camera footage would not be released until after a possible trial. Woodruff’s attorney, Clinton Campion, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday. An attorney was not listed for Miller, who also did not respond to a request for comment.

The incident began around 5 am May 24 when police dispatchers received a call from a man asking whether he could camp in a public park. Law enforcement wrongly believed the man calling was Tikka’s cousin, Garrett Tikka, who had a warrant for failing to serve a 10-day sentence for driving with a revoked license, so dispatchers sent officers, including Miller and Woodruff, to detain him.

When they approached Tikka’s vehicle, the troopers saw him in the back and ordered him to get out of the car, citing a warrant for his arrest. When they knocked on the window of the car, according to authorities, Tikka did not respond.

Miller then notified Tikka that he was going to pepper-spray the inside of the truck if Tikka refused to exit, according to court documents citing his body camera.

“Tikka — either you come out, or we’re going to bust out your window” and send in the dog to bite you, he said, court documents allege.

Tikka refused, saying there was not a warrant out for his arrest, the court documents state.

Miller then broke a back window of the car, as Woodruff threatened to send the canine into the truck, the court documents state, but Tikka still refused to leave. Miller then discharged pepper spray into the vehicle, causing Tikka to scream from the irritant and finally open the car door, the court documents added.

Miller then told Tikka to get on the ground, kicking him in the shin, court filings state. Miller struck the back of Tikka’s head or neck with his fist, according to the charging documents, and pushed Tikka to the ground with the help of another officer.

Miller then deployed a stun gun, and while doing so, stepped on Tikka’s head, pushing it into the ground where the broken glass from the window remained.

“What are you doing?” Tikka yelled, according to the charging documents.

Miller then stunned Tikka in his back, and the canine bit Tikka in the abdomen area.

Miller also inadvertently stunned a third officer who was not charged in the incident, court filings state.

Stills from the body camera show Tikka crouched next to the black truck with blood on his forehead and the dog leaping onto him. Tikka’s pants are partially down his legs, revealing his underwear.

“My hands are behind my back, sir, please stop,” Tikka said as the dog pounced on him, according to the court filings. Woodruff continues to give the bite command. Tikka’s face and head were “bleeding profusely,” the filings stated.

“Please, stop you guys I am not a criminal,” Tikka said, according to the court filing.

“You were told,” Miller replied, the court filings state. “You were given so many opportunities, man.”

At no time during the encounter, the charging documents note, did any officer ask the man in the car what his name was. They only addressed him by Tikka.

Medical responders eventually transported Tikka to a hospital. On the ride, another trooper confirmed it was Ben Tikka, not Garrett Tikka, who had been hit, bitten, and arrested. Police had charged Ben Tikka with three counts of fourth-degree assault, although the Kenai district attorney’s office later dropped those charges.

“It’s hard for me to equate how this has affected me and other troopers who wear this uniform,” Cockrell, the state’s top public safety official, said Thursday.

The charging documents also detailed discrepancies in Woodruff’s incident report. In one instance, Woodruff wrote that Tikka had resisted arrest and that other officers couldn’t control him, which is when he ordered the dog to attack, according to the charging documents. But the video showed Woodruff ordering the dog to bite even as Tikka was being apprehended, including one bite that lasted 66 seconds, according to the court documents.

Woodruff and Miller will be arraigned in court on Sept. 10 in Kenai.