DETROIT — Two Sterling Heights police officers were charged on Tuesday for alleged misconduct and assaulting a person with a K9 unit.

James Sribniak, 31, and Jack Currie, 29, were charged through 39th District Court with one count of misconduct in office and felonious assault, the Michigan Attorney General's Office announced in a press release. Both charges are felonies.

Sribniak and Currie pursued a Roseville resident suspected of domestic violence on Feb. 25, according to the statement. City Police Department officers ended the car and foot chase and surrounded the suspect on the ground.

Police had already Tased the person twice when Currie allegedly urged Sribniak to get his K9 dog to bite the suspect, state officials said.

Sribniak allegedly ordered the dog to bite the person. The dog obeyed and bit the suspect's posterior right hip as they were laying on the ground, according to the release.

A Sterling Heights Police Department representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

Sribniak and Currie have not been arraigned yet and future court dates have not been set, according to the release.

Law enforcement officers must deploy K9 dogs with good judgement and should be held to the highest standards of conduct, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in the release.

"We should be able to trust them to not deploy a dog as an unnecessary and unlawful punitive measure to brutally attack a human being," she said. "In this incident, deploying a K9 on a suspect already on the ground and well-surrounded by officers is not only horrific but illegal. My office remains committed to thoroughly investigating and prosecuting police misconduct.”

©2024 www.detroitnews.com. Visit at detroitnews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.