A decorated Dallas police officer is facing a felony assault charge after investigators say he intentionally used his patrol vehicle to strike a man accused of an aggravated robbery who was running through an east Oak Cliff neighborhood.
The circumstances of the early morning call in late March led to Sr. Cpl. Scott Jay — a 28-year officer in the Canine Unit once honored by Gov. Greg Abbott for his actions during a deadly shootout with a gunman in 2023 — being placed on leave pending an investigation into “inappropriate force” by the department’s Public Integrity Unit. The unit investigates allegations of misconduct involving city officials and employees, including police officers.
The man “experienced pain and minor injury” after Jay hit him, an officer wrote in an incident report for the alleged robbery. He was transported to Methodist Charlton Medical Center, where he was treated for his injuries, the report says. Jay was placed on administrative leave.
Four months later, investigators sought an arrest warrant for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, accusing Jay of intentionally hitting the man with his vehicle, according to newly-obtained records reviewed by The Dallas Morning News.
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Jay, 50, turned himself in at the Dallas County jail on July 30 and was released after posting bond. Aggravated assault, a second-degree felony, is punishable with two to 20 years in prison.
Robert Rogers, one of Jay’s attorneys, called the decision to bring charges “shocking” and said his client used his patrol vehicle only to “bump” the man off balance — a maneuver Rogers argued was aligned with department policy and intended to prevent the encounter from escalating into deadly force.
“I found it shocking, unprecedented and absolutely without justification for the DPD Public Integrity Unit to handle it like this,” Rogers said in an interview Tuesday.
Whether the man was arrested or charged in connection with the reported robbery is unclear. An incident report portal managed by the department lists the case as “suspended.” A partially redacted version of the incident report provided to The News in a records request does not state whether he was arrested.
Attempts to reach the man for comment were unsuccessful. Lt. Tramese Jones, a department spokesperson, declined to comment on either Jay’s or the man’s cases.
Rogers argued the question of whether Jay’s use of force was justified should have been left to a grand jury, which is empaneled in secret to weigh evidence gathered by investigators and prosecutors to determine whether a case should move forward. Such panels often convene to review evidence in cases where officers discharge their firearms.
The case has not yet gone before a grand jury, according to Claire Crouch, a Dallas County district attorney’s office spokesperson. Crouch declined to comment on the case because it is pending.
Sr. Cpl. Scott Jay and his dog, Figor, are reunited after the duo were wounded while searching for a man suspected of a shooting in 2023.
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Jay joined the department in 1997 and is assigned to the Canine Unit. According to internal records, he’s been awarded 100 commendations in his time with the department, including the department’s medal of valor award in 2023.
Jay earned that award after he and his dog, Figor, were wounded in Pleasant Grove while tracking a shooting suspect. The man, Bryan Casillas, 20, opened fire on them in a wooded area, and Jay shot back, killing him.
Foot pursuit in east Oak Cliff led to incident
Police were called at about 3:30 a.m. March 27 to the 4100 block of Sunnyvale Street, where a witness reported an aggravated robbery had taken place. A motorist had been working on their stalled vehicle when a man approached and offered to help.
The man began “rambling” about “God’s Revolution” and accused the driver of “doing something bad,” an officer wrote in a report reviewed by The News. He then grabbed a lunch bag from the vehicle’s center console, claiming it “contained evidence of a crime,” and ran off.
The motorist called 911 after the man hit them in a failed attempt to take the bag back. The man pulled out a pocketknife and threatened to kill them, the report says.
When officers arrived, they saw the man holding the pocketknife and the bag, unholstered their sidearms and commanded him to drop the knife, the report says. The man raised his hands, dropping the knife, before he began running from the officers.
As the man fled south on Sunnyvale Street, Jay drove up the block in a patrol car, heading north on the residential street. After they passed each other, Jay turned the vehicle to drive alongside the man as he ran. Jay began giving verbal commands, warning he would release his canine if the man did not stop and comply, the report says.
At one point, Jay asked a fellow officer if the man had committed a felony. “No,” the officer replied, according to the report.
Another officer had a 40-millimeter “less-lethal” launcher designed to subdue targets with blunt-impact rounds and a Taser. That officer moved aside to allow Jay to continue the pursuit in his patrol vehicle, the report says.
While in the vehicle, Jay twice fired his Taser in an attempt to subdue the man, but the man kept running.
At one point, Jay accelerated toward the man, “almost striking and pinning him between a parked vehicle” in a nearby driveway, the report says.
What happened next is unclear as the report is redacted, although the charge Jay faces states he struck the man. Rogers said Jay also released his canine during the pursuit.
Rogers argued the report does not capture the full context of the pursuit, including radio communications from the initial call that he contends shaped Jay’s decisions in the moments before the collision.
Rogers added that he felt the officer’s prior experience with pursuits, including the 2023 gunfight that saw him injured, should be considered when weighing his use of force against the man.
“He was shot three times,” Rogers said of the 2023 shooting in Pleasant Grove. “He knows what it feels like to have bullets come at you and enter your body, so he doesn’t want anybody [to experience that]. He doesn’t want the suspect to have that happen. He doesn’t want officers to have that happen.”
Later that year, Abbott awarded Jay and his dog, Figor, the Star of Texas Award in Austin. The awards, handed out on Sept. 11 in the years since their creation in 2003, honor individuals who have been killed or suffered serious injuries in the line of duty.