Jury acquits Salt Lake City K-9 officer of assault in 2020 arrest

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — A jury on Friday found a Salt Lake City police officer not guilty of aggravated assault after he ordered his dog to bite a man who was kneeling against a fence almost four years ago.

Nickolas Pearce was charged with second-degree felony aggravated in connection to an arrest in April of 2020. Had he been convicted, he would have faced up to 15 years in prison.

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On Friday, the jury deliberated for an hour-and-a-half before delivering the verdict. They had listened to days of testimony in the case.

Following the announcement, Salt Lake City Attorney Sim Gill, who brought the charge against Pearce, said he respects the jury’s decision, although it wasn’t the one his office worked to prove.

“In my role as the District Attorney, I believe one of the most important duties I have is oversight over the use of force by those who are sworn to serve and protect our community,” Gill said. “Although this case did not end in the way we had hoped, this office will continue in that duty of oversight.”

The charge against Pearce stemmed from the arrest of Jeffrey Ryans on April 24, 2020. Pearce was accused of ordering his dog, Tuco, to bite Ryans, who was kneeling against a fence with his hands raised. Ryans said he was cooperating with officers, who had been called on a domestic violence call.

Pearce testified that he did not believe Ryans was following commands to get on the ground. He said that with his hand on the fence, Ryans could have pulled himself up to fight officers or flee.

“At that moment when I saw him at the wall, it confirmed my suspicion that he was probably going to try to flee,” Pearce testified on Thursday. “In my estimation, in everything I had gathered at that point, he was fleeing over the back wall.”

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