A federal lawsuit alleges that a traffic stop involving Bradley Page, who was experiencing a stroke on Interstate 10 near Casa Grande in February 2025, escalated into a high-risk police response and a K-9 bite. Bodycam footage reviewed in reporting by Phoenix New Times shows Pinal County Sheriff's Office K-9 Morgan holding Page's upper left arm for nearly 70 seconds while officers treated him as a potentially dangerous suspect.
A Medical Crisis Read as a Standoff
Officers from the Gila River Police Department were first on scene after Page's car stopped on I-10, and according to Phoenix New Times, they considered a medical emergency possible while keeping their weapons drawn as a precaution. The outlet reported that, after DPS Trooper J. Harries arrived, Page's mumbling and side-to-side movements were interpreted as an attempt to barricade himself. Harries requested SWAT and K-9 assistance from the Pinal County Sheriff's Office, despite saying he could not clearly see inside the vehicle.
According to the same reporting, Page had lost function in parts of his body, including his left foot, and the car's wheels had spun in gravel during the episode. As the driver's-side window moved up and down, DPS Trooper A. Wheeler fired multiple 40-millimeter foam batons that struck Page's left arm. DPS also fired rubber rounds that broke the Nissan's front and rear windows, while Trooper T. Williams aimed a rifle at Page and ordered him to put his hands outside the window, Phoenix New Times reported.
The K-9 Bite
When Page put his left arm outside the driver's-side window, Deputy Gregory Sanders released Pinal County K-9 Morgan, a Belgian Malinois, and commanded the dog to bite, according to the bodycam account reported by Phoenix New Times. Morgan remained attached to Page's upper left arm for nearly 70 seconds. Officers then cut Page's seatbelt, pulled him from the vehicle and handcuffed him. Sanders used a jaw-breaker tool to remove the dog, and Williams requested emergency medical assistance.
Page remained handcuffed in a patrol car for more than 69 minutes before being taken to Chandler Regional Hospital, where medical providers confirmed he had suffered a stroke. A blood test found no illegal substances. The following day, surgeons at the Arizona Center for Hand Surgery identified deep muscle, tendon and vascular damage from four penetrating dog-bite wounds and performed reconstructive surgery, according to Phoenix New Times.
Charges Dropped, Lawsuit Filed
Western Pinal Justice Court prosecutors initially charged Page with failure to comply with a police officer and reckless driving, but dismissed the charges Jan. 28, Phoenix New Times reported in its report. Attorney Benjamin Taylor later filed a lawsuit for Page and his wife, Dooreen Page, in Maricopa County Superior Court. The case was transferred to U.S. District Court in May and alleges negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, assault and battery, and loss of consortium. The defendants include DPS, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office, Sheriff Ross Teeple, four DPS troopers, a DPS sergeant and Sanders, according to Phoenix New Times.
Taylor told the outlet that officers failed to help Page after his stroke and instead used a canine to bite him. DPS spokesperson Bart Graves and representatives for the Pinal County Sheriff's Office declined to comment on the lawsuit allegations or the bodycam footage, citing policy against discussing active litigation — the same posture PCSO took when Phoenix New Times sought comment on this case. DPS acknowledged the outlet's request for the incident report and bodycam footage but has not substantially responded or provided the requested records.
Expert Says Information Gap Drove Escalation
Michael Scott, director of the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing at Arizona State University, told the outlet that the limited information available to officers about Page's medical condition contributed to the escalation. He also noted that law enforcement generally treats canine deployment as less lethal than firearms.
Teeple took office as Pinal County sheriff on Jan. 1, 2025, overseeing nearly 500 department employees across a jurisdiction spanning more than 5,300 square miles.
Broader Scrutiny of Police K-9 Practices
The Page case arrives amid wider legal and public debate over police dog deployments and bystander officer accountability. In September, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that police officers do not have a clearly established constitutional duty to intervene when a police canine bites a non-resisting suspect for 43 seconds, granting qualified immunity to bystander officers in a separate Houston case. And in central Arizona, scrutiny over K-9 handling intensified after a Maricopa County Sheriff's Office detention dog died from heat exposure in July after being left inside a patrol vehicle in 102-degree weather.
What county policy says
Pinal County's Aug. 21, 2024 code of conduct says employees must perform their duties fairly and equitably and treat the public with courtesy and respect without bias based on disability, according to Pinal County Policy and Procedure 3.30. The document is a general conduct policy, not a specific K-9 use-of-force rule, and does not set out procedures for releasing a dog, documenting a bite or obtaining medical care afterward.
A separate Jan. 9 encounter in San Tan Valley involved a different type of alleged communication failure. Phoenix New Times reported that Pinal County deputy Aaron McRae arrested 79-year-old deaf Lyft driver Thomas Garro after the two struggled to communicate; Garro later faced passive-resistance and failure-to-comply charges and filed a $1.5 million notice of claim, according to Phoenix New Times. Unlike Page's I-10 encounter, the report describes a physical arrest following a traffic stop rather than a response involving a K-9.
Page continues to deal with serious arm injuries and the effects of his stroke, according to Phoenix New Times. The federal lawsuit remains pending. DPS and Pinal County officials have declined to comment on the footage or the allegations, citing the active litigation.
