BODYCAM | Canton police K-9 officer placed on leave after incident involving arrest of suspect

The Canton Police Department has announced that it has begun an internal investigation into an incident involving the "deployment" of a K-9 on a suspect on Thursday evening.

According to a statement from the department, the incident happened in the 1100 block of 16th Street Northwest at approximately 8:45 p.m. Body camera video from a Canton K-9 officer appears to show the police dog aggressively charge at a suspect who was on the ground following a traffic stop made by officers nearby.

Canton police say the K-9 officer, Patrolman Nicholas Casto, has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

"During a traffic stop, the arrested suspect was found to be in possession of a loaded concealed handgun. The arrested suspect is prohibited from possessing firearms," Canton police noted in its report of the incident. "Other arrested subjects caused annoyance on scene, were advised to cease, and refused to do so. The disorderly subjects then delayed officers duties and fought with officers who were attempting to arrest them."

As the tensions were continuing, Canton police say "multiple threats of violence were made toward a police K-9 that was on scene."

Body camera video shows Casto warning a male suspect not to say anything else to his dog. He then says to the suspect, "you're about to go in cuffs," as other officers approach the scene. "He's under arrest for taunting the dog," Casto told the officers.

Three officers tackled the suspect to the ground in front of a house, while Casto and his K-9 were standing nearby. The video shows the K-9 appearing to attack the suspect while on the ground with his hands behind his back. Police order the suspect to stop resisting before placing handcuffs on him.