A Facebook video that circulated on social media captured Lail trying to flee police before officers caught up to him. While Lail was on the ground, a Dayton police officer can be seen punching Lail three times and Tasing him while officers attempt to handcuff him. Lail and his family have questioned whether the force used by officers was appropriate.
Dayton Police issued a statement saying Lail was not complying with officers’ orders and was resisting arrest. Police also said that they found the gun in the vehicle after they took Lail into custody. Lail previously told the Dayton Daily News over the phone from the Montgomery County Jail that the vehicle was a rental and he didn’t know about the gun.
A local expert who reviewed the videos at the request of the Dayton Daily News said officers responded properly.
However, the video sparked controversy in Dayton and led to a couple of protests downtown in front of the public safety building. The protesters demanded discipline for the officers involved. Dayton Police and the Dayton City Commission said they would look into the incident and on Tuesday, police told this newspaper that their review is finished.
Dayton police said “Mr. Lail was asked numerous times by Dayton officers, in a professional, polite, and patient manner to exit his vehicle, but he continuously refused to do so. Mr. Lail then resisted the officers’ attempts to physically remove him from the vehicle and fled before being caught and taken into custody.”
“A Dayton Police Department supervisor conducted an administrative investigation into the incident. During the investigation, it was determined that two Dayton Officers utilized physical force to detain Mr. Lail after he attempted to elude officers by physically resisting and running from the officers,” police said. “After reviewing all aspects of the administrative investigation, it was determined the officers responded appropriately to Mr. Lail’s noncompliance and physical resistance, which allowed the officers to take Mr. Lail into custody.”
In court documents, Lail agreed to a statement of facts that said:
“On or about September 7, 2020, in Montgomery County, Ohio, defendant George Lail knowingly possessed a firearm even though he understood that he was prohibited from doing so,” the statement says. “On that day, Mr. Lail intentionally kept in his rental car a Taurus handgun. Mr. Lail knew that, as a convicted felon and an individual on active parole, he could not possess this weapon.”
The statement says that Lail was convicted in 2010 of felonious assault. It also says that Taurus firearms are not manufactured in Ohio and thus moved in interstate commerce to reach Lail in Ohio.
The plea agreement filed in the case says there is an agreed-upon sentence of imprisonment within the range of time served to 24 months, a fine and a term of supervised release to be determined by a judge. Court documents also say that Lail was released to the state, where he is serving a sentence for a parole violation.
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