A Kenai man allegedly beaten and arrested by two Alaska State Troopers in a case of mistaken identity is now suing the City of Kenai and one of its police officers.
Ben Tikka’s lawsuit, filed in state Superior Court on May 13th, follows criminal charges and a federal civil rights lawsuit filed against the two former troopers, Jason Woodruff and Joseph Miller Jr. The new state lawsuit names the city, Woodruff and Miller as defendants, as well as Kenai police officer Chad Larsen, who also responded to the call during which the beating allegedly occurred.
Multiple cameras the officers wore captured Tikka’s 2024 arrest near Kenai’s Daubenspeck Park. A routine use-of-force investigation led the state to file criminal charges against Woodruff and Miller. The charges say they sicced a police dog on Tikka, tased him multiple times and that Miller kicked him in the head, among other alleged acts of violence.
The troopers thought they were arresting Tikka’s cousin, who had an outstanding warrant for driving with a revoked license, according to the charges.
The new state lawsuit seeks $900,000 in damages, plus legal fees, and alleges, among other things, excessive force by Woodruff and Miller, failure to intervene by Larsen, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress. It also alleges an invasion of privacy by Woodruff, who the suit says showed a Wildwood Correctional Facility officer pictures or videos of Tikka the night he was arrested.
The lawsuit is the first time the City of Kenai and Larsen have been named as defendants in legal action stemming from Tikka’s arrest. It alleges that Larsen “did nothing to intervene or prevent the attacks” by Woodruff and Miller. It goes on to say the city breached its duty of care to Tikka by failing to train Larsen appropriately.
On Tuesday, Kenai City Manager Terry Eubank said the Kenai Police Department did an internal investigation and found its officers “acted appropriately,” and did not violate department policy or state law.
According to Alaska’s online court database, Miller and Woodruff do not have lawyers in the state civil case. Clint Campion is representing Woodruff in the other two cases and said Wednesday he had not been provided with any information about the civil suit filed more recently. Miller’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment regarding the state civil suit.
Miller and Woodruff were put on administrative leave following the use-of-force review, and state prosecutors charged each of them with one misdemeanor count of assault. A Kenai grand jury later upped those charges to felony assault.
This weekend will mark two years since Tikka’s arrest.
Both the criminal charges and the civil lawsuit describe alleged violent actions by Miller and Woodruff.
The documents say law enforcement officers were dispatched to the park over an inquiry about public camping. Dispatchers thought the call had come from Tikka’s cousin, who they said was “associated with” the vehicle at the park. Tikka’s cousin had an outstanding warrant for his arrest after he failed to appear for a 10-day jail sentence for driving with a revoked license.
The charges describe Miller and Woodruff smashing in the car window, siccing the police dog on Tikka as he exited the car and tasing him repeatedly. The charges also say Miller kicked Tikka in the head and stepped on Tikka’s head with his boot, and that Woodruff continued to command the police dog to attack Tikka, even as Tikka tried to comply with orders.
According to the charges, none of the officers present during the arrest asked Tikka for identification. The charges say they kept Tikka detained even after learning, while taking Tikka to a hospital, that they were arresting the wrong man. The troopers then charged Tikka with assault in a criminal case the state later dropped.
Tikka’s lawyer says the arrest left him with over $40,000 in medical expenses after he was treated for a fractured scapula, dog bites, extensive abrasions and lacerations on his head and arm, among other injuries.
The arrest prompted swift condemnation by the state commissioner of Public Safety, who called the troopers’ conduct unacceptable.
As of Wednesday, Woodruff remained employed by the state, though he is not working in the field as a state trooper. Miller is no longer employed by the state and, according to court documents, is living in the Lower 48. The trooper dog, Olex, was also released from the department.
The civil suit filed last week comes as Miller and Woodruff await trial in their state criminal and federal civil rights cases. Last year, Miller’s attorney tried and failed to get his client’s state criminal case dismissed. They’ve pleaded not guilty in both cases. Both trials are scheduled for October, with the state trial set to follow the federal civil rights trial.
Miller and Woodruff are due in Kenai court in August for a hearing in the criminal case.
