Police relase body cam of Tyler Dunlap and woman tased by Wapak PD who medics were trying to treat

Newly released video of the arrest of Tyler Dunlap, the Lima police officer arrested in June after reportedly interfering with medics who were attending to an injured woman at his home, shows Wapakoneta Police Lt. Shannon Place pointing her taser at Dunlap and the woman who medics were trying to treat.

The incident, which occurred on June 19, resulted in criminal charges against Dunlap and Veronica Sepulveda, a former Lima police officer whose head injury prompted the 911 call.

The Wapakoneta Police Department released video from Place’s body worn camera Thursday after initially denying a public records request submitted by The Lima News in June, which was originally denied because of the department’s concerns regarding the presence of a juvenile in the video as well as Place’s injuries and the pending criminal case.

Footage from a body camera shows what transpired during the June 19 arrest of the Lima Police Department’s Tyler Dunlap by Wapakoneta Police Department’s Shannon Place. The video includes swearing. Portions of the video are blacked out to protect the identity of a juvenile, in accordance with Ohio laws. (Video courtesy of Wapakoneta Police Department)

The video shows Sepulveda fainting as medics tend to her head wound.

Moments later, Dunlap and Sepulveda are seen sitting on the ground together, with Dunlap apparently propping her up. An emergency medical technician calls over to Place: “Him, gone, now,” the EMT says.

Place tries to coax Dunlap to leave the area so medics can work uninterrupted, but the situation quickly escalates when an apparently confused and intoxicated Dunlap sits back down with Sepulveda.

“Listen to me,” Place tells Dunlap, grabbing his shoulder. “You’re interfering and need to get out of the way, so stand up and let’s go. I’m not trying to make trouble with you. Just get up and get down here, OK? That’s all I’m asking. You’re staring me down and it doesn’t make me very comfortable.”

Place then tells Dunlap to put his hands behind his back. “I’m going to detain you,” she says.

“No you’re not,” Dunlap says, jumping away from Place.

“Yes I am. You’re under arrest,” she says.

“I’m a police officer,” Dunlap says.

“And you’re going to stop right now,” Place says, pulling out her taser and pointing it at Dunlap. “You know what the hell you’re doing, so stop and turn around.”

Moments later, Sepulveda rushes towards Dunlap, to which Place turns and points her taser toward Sepulveda. “You need to get the (expletive) off me too,” Place tells her.

The camera captures Place looking at her left hand several times after handcuffing and escorting Dunlap to a police cruiser. In one exchange, Place complains to another officer that she might have broken her finger.

She went on light duty for seven weeks after the incident due to her apparent injury, finally returning to full-time duty on August 8.

While Sepulveda was transported from the scene by the rescue squad, the Auglaize County Sheriff’s Office served Sepulveda an arrest warrant days later.

Sepulveda is now facing criminal charges for reportedly resisting arrest and obstructing official business, both second-degree misdemeanors, as WPD claims she started impeding Dunlap’s arrest.

Dunlap has also been charged with resisting arrest, misconduct at an emergency and obstructing official business, the latter a fifth-degree felony. He was placed on paid administrative leave on June 20, while Sepulveda resigned from LPD on June 24. She had been hired as a patrol officer last August.