Man loses eye after GPD canine apprehension

Gainesville Police Chief Lonnie Scott ordered a review due by July 25 after a man received serious injuries from a police dog used to apprehend him. 

Local residents gathered downtown on Sunday to protest the treatment of Terrell Bradley, 30, and marched to the Gainesville Police Department (GPD) station on NW 8th Avenue. 

“We saw them yesterday outside the station, and we will certainly be very forthcoming and very transparent with everything at the conclusion of the investigation,” GPD spokesman Graham Glover said in a Monday phone interview. 

Bradley was initially transported to UF Shands following his arrest, but medical personnel decided to send him to Tampa because of the injury to his eye—which he ended up losing.  

Glover noted that all body cam footage and other documents will be available to the public once the investigation concludes. 

“This isn’t keeping anything from the public when there’s an internal review of things,” he said. “This is just normal procedure.”

According to a GPD press release on Sunday, a patrol officer began a traffic stop after seeing a vehicle fail to stop at a stop sign at Sweetwater Square Apartments on NE 15th Street. The vehicle slowed down but continued along NE 39th Avenue until pulling into the Eden Park Apartments. 

After approaching the vehicle, the officer saw contraband and suspicious behavior by the driver, lowering his hand toward the floor, GPD reported. The officer asked the driver, Bradley, to exit the vehicle, which he did, but when the officer started a pat down, according GPD, Bradley resisted the efforts “by physically contacting the officer and running away on foot.” 

Back-up units arrived and searched the vehicle, finding a stolen firearm under the driver’s seat along with ammunition. A left-behind driver’s license allowed GPD to identify Bradley and discover his record as a convicted felon.

Because of the nature of the crime, a felony firearm offense, a canine tracking unit responded, GPD reported in a press release. The canine, on a leash, located Bradley behind bushes at Eden Park, and officers apprehended him. 

The GPD release did not specify how the injury occurred, only that officers saw the injury and called for EMS. 

Since Bradley needed to leave the county for care, a judge issued an arrest warrant for Bradley on the charges of possession of less than 20 grams of cannabis ($1,000), two counts of possession of a firearm, ammunition or electric weapon by a convicted felon ($50,000 each) and resisting an officer with violence ($50,000).

Images of Bradley’s injury began circulating on social media, leading to Sunday’s protest.

“We recognize some of our neighbors may feel disturbed by the images circulating on social media,” the GPD press release said. “Rest assured, GPD will be transparent during the review process and we will provide our neighbors with an accurate accounting of this incident. We ask for your patience as the internal review and related processes occur.”