Andy Dewaine Bailey no longer faces charges after police arrested him, following a confrontation with a dog in a viral 2022 video. Courtesy | YouTube

County Prosecutor Neal Brady dropped charges against a Hillsdale man arrested  last year for disturbing the peace and resisting and obstructing an officer. 

Andy Dewaine Bailey could have spent one year in jail but no longer faces the charges, according to Bailey’s attorney Daren Wiseley. 

Wiseley said he decided to take Bailey’s case pro bono after one of his assistants suggested it. After watching the viral video of Bailey’s arrest, which garnered 25,000 views, Wiseley said he thought the charges were unfair. 

“No one’s saying he was a gentleman in the videos, but at the end of the day it’s almost more like he was assaulted by the officer,” Wiseley said. 

The Hillsdale City Police Department received backlash and death threats after Bailey was arrested in March 2022. Police officers were responding to a “disturbing the peace” complaint about Bailey, and when they let him go with a warning, they used pepper spray to deter a loose, barking dog. Bailey confronted them, and one of the officers accused him of obstructing their investigation. The officers then arrested him. 

The City of Hillsdale released bodycam footage of the incident that weekend, saying there had been “misinformation and false statements made regarding the Officers’ conduct with this dog.” 

Bailey refused to take a plea bargain  since he believed he did not commit any crime, Wiseley said. Bailey thought taking a risk with the jury was the best option, according to Wiseley, so they proceeded to trial. 

“I decided the resisting and obstructing an officer charge was of marginal quality and that his annoying interference did not exceed the misdemeanor level for me, so I dropped the felony resisting charge,” Brady said. 

After Brady dropped the felony charge, Bailey was still planning to go to trial for his misdemeanor charge of disturbing the peace. 

“I had multiple witnesses who could not appear on the date scheduled for trial, so I had it dismissed without prejudice,” Brady said. 

Brady said this means the charge can be reissued in the future.

“They’re not going to admit it, but I think at the end of the day they kind of knew there wasn’t really evidence of a crime,” Wiseley said. “That’s why they just threw it out.”