Clarksville police K-9 bites man during arrest; later jail death remains under investigation
A Clarksville Police K-9 bit Darius Chappell during a June 29 arrest; he was hospitalized, later died in jail, and the official cause of death remains unreleased, so BiteDB does not classify the bite as fatal.
Incident summary
During a June 29 arrest on Fort Campbell Boulevard, a Clarksville Police K-9 bit 34-year-old Darius Chappell while officers and deputies were trying to take him into custody. Cellphone video reviewed by local media shows the dog biting him for nearly a minute. Chappell was taken to a hospital and then booked into Montgomery County Jail. He was found unresponsive in his cell days later and pronounced dead. Because the official cause of death has not been released, BiteDB does not classify the dog bite as a fatal dog-attack incident.
Clarksville Police opened an internal use-of-force investigation and placed Officer Steven Deering on leave. CPD later said Deering was no longer employed as of Sept. 1 after its internal investigation and disciplinary process. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation continues investigating Chappell’s death. Reviewed public sources do not establish that the K-9 bite caused his death or that criminal charges have been filed against the officer.
Video, reporting and source material
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Primary record used by BiteDB
An arrest report obtained by Clarksville Now says deputies encountered Chappell on June 29, used Tasers during a struggle, and a responding Clarksville Police officer deployed a K-9 that bit Chappell. Clarksville Police separately confirmed the June 29 K-9 use-of-force incident. Follow-up reporting says Chappell was hospitalized before jail booking, later died in custody, and the official cause of death had not been released.
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What BiteDB does not infer
Breed is recorded only at the provenance level shown above. Missing injury details, dog history, ownership facts or circumstances remain unknown unless a reliable source establishes them. This record may be updated as police, animal-control, medical, court or follow-up reporting becomes available.