hello my name is captain kelly muniz commanding officer of media relations division of the los angeles police department this critical incident community briefing is intended to provide you with information about a categorical use of force resulting from a canine contact that occurred in rampart division in the city of los angeles on july 5th 2022 at around 11 10 pm you're about to see relevant video footage and learn about other evidence and police procedures related to the case so you can have a better understanding of what occurred based on what we know right now the lapd conducts very thorough use of force investigations which typically require investigators to interview multiple witnesses view numerous hours of video footage and analyze a significant amount of forensic evidence we are still at the very early stages of this investigation which can often take up to a year to complete and our understanding of the incident may change as this additional evidence is collected analyzed and reviewed we also do not draw any conclusions about whether the officers acted consistent with our policies in the law until all the facts are known and the investigation is complete a word of caution the images and information you're about to see may be disturbing when a police officer uses force to arrest a suspect or defend against an attack it can be graphic and difficult to watch in addition there may be strong language used by those shown in the video viewer discretion is advised especially for young children and sensitive viewers rampart division gang enforcement detail officers saw a known gang member who they recognized as having an active fugitive warrant near the 1500 block of west temple avenue that suspect was identified as eric patterson as the officers attempted to stop patterson he turned and ran away the officers pursued patterson on foot requested the assistance of additional officers and established a perimeter in the immediate area notifications were made to metropolitan division canine who responded shortly thereafter and assisted rampart officers in formulating a plan to resolve the situation canine officers conducted a search of the area and located patterson hiding in the shrubbery of a nearby residence resulting in a canine contact patterson was taken into custody a portion of this incident was captured on the officers body worn video body worn video cameras are used by most officers assigned to field duties they are worn at chest level and capture a general perspective within line of sight from that angle the angle of the camera prohibits viewers from seeing everything the officers saw and experienced upon activation both audio and video will turn on however body worn video cameras have a buffer of video without audio from the previous two minutes prior to activation this feature is designed to capture incidents that occur suddenly where an officer doesn't immediately activate the camera here is the body-worn video from the officers involved in this incident [Laughter] hey this oh we know who you are [Music] so [Music] [Music] yep on okay okay i got the dog okay i got the dog let me see your head start crawling out with your hands first he's on his back started crawling out with your hands or we're going to send the dog again back towards the lights don't run understand the dogs you gotta move or we're gonna send the dog don't run crawl towards us crawl towards us and we're training the dog start moving start moving walk this way dude ready stop moving stop moving i stopped moving dude what did i [ __ ] do hey you got anything on you yeah there's at least a knife come over here so i can get a better one all right spread your legs los angeles fire department paramedics transported patterson to a local hospital where he was treated for the injuries sustained to his right arm and back during the canine contact department policy defines a canine bite or contact which results in an injury requiring hospitalization as a categorical use of force in accordance with that policy lapd's force investigation division assumed investigative responsibility for this incident upon learning of the hospitalization a semiautomatic pistol was recovered in a yard along patterson's path of travel and was booked as evidence eric patterson is a 27 year old resident of los angeles patterson was arrested for the fugitive warrant and for being a felon in possession of a firearm additionally on june 19 2022 patterson fled from officers while driving a stolen vehicle and evaded capture on july 7 2022 the los angeles county district attorney's office filed the following charges against paterson two counts of felony evading one count of vehicle theft in the next several months the lapd will continue to investigate and analyze this incident we will continue interviewing any new witnesses that may come forward and complete any forensic tests after the investigation is complete our critical incident review division will forward their findings to the chief of police who will make his recommendation to the civilian board of police commissioners the board will evaluate the evidence to determine whether the officer's tactics and use of force in this instance met the high standards expected of all lapd officers if you would like more information on how the lapd investigates all serious uses of force visit lapd online.org where you can also find the lapd's use of force policy and procedures thank you for taking the time to view this critical incident community briefing