In a scene straight out of a wild late-night story that no one could script, a 46-year-old man from nearby Sheffield found himself in a literal tooth-and-nail struggle with a police K-9 during a drug task force operation on April 22, 2026.
David Culliver wasn’t even the target of the Lauderdale County Drug Task Force’s search warrant at a residence in the 200 block of North Locust Street. According to police reports, he “inserted himself” into the situation, arriving from across the street and quickly escalating things by yelling at officers, stepping repeatedly into active traffic despite warnings, behaving erratically, and appearing visibly intoxicated while making verbal threats.
Officers moved to detain him on initial charges of disorderly conduct and public intoxication. When Culliver resisted, struggling against multiple officers who had him pinned against a vehicle, things took a turn that’s now fueling endless online debate and memes.
A Florence Police Department K-9 was deployed to help gain control. The dog bit Culliver on the leg, leaving puncture wounds. In response — and in one of those “you can’t make this up” moments captured on bodycam — Culliver grabbed the dog’s leg and bit it right back. Officers had to strike him to force him to release the animal before finally taking him to the ground and into custody.
Culliver was treated at North Alabama Medical Center for his injuries before being booked into the Lauderdale County Detention Center. Bond was set at $2,500. The K-9 was checked out and is expected to be just fine.
He now faces charges including resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, public intoxication, and interfering with a police dog (with some reports referencing injury to a police animal).
Florence Police Chief Mike Holt later stated that an internal review found the use of force, including the K-9 deployment, to be justified, noting that Culliver had created the confrontation by interfering with an active law enforcement operation.
In the interest of transparency after a citizen video began circulating on social media, the Florence Police Department released roughly 12 minutes of bodycam footage from multiple officers’ perspectives. The video — which includes strong language and shows the intense, chaotic struggle — is available on the department’s Facebook page and YouTube channel. It provides context for the sequence: officers approaching Culliver around 7:02 p.m. (bodycam time), the escalation moments later with the K-9 deployment, and the subsequent actions needed to subdue him.
Reactions online have been predictably split. Plenty of viewers are laughing at the sheer audacity of a man biting a police dog in retaliation, calling it peak “Alabama chaos.” Others are questioning whether the K-9 was necessary at that point or if the strikes crossed a line, with some coverage noting concerns raised by Culliver’s family about excessive force.
Either way, the full footage paints a clearer picture of how quickly a bystander’s decision to involve himself in police activity can spiral. As one of those rare, headline-grabbing incidents that remind everyone how unpredictable street-level encounters can get, this one is already living rent-free in comment sections nationwide.
The bodycam video is publicly available via Florence PD’s social media (viewer discretion advised for language and physical struggle). Court proceedings for Culliver are ongoing.
