Katie Derosa (Victoria Times Colonist) – A 66-year-old woman was bitten by a Nanaimo RCMP dog Thursday after a suspect fleeing police tried to hide in her apartment.
The man fled from police after they stopped a vehicle he was travelling in about 1 p.m. on Thursday on Townsite Road, near East Wellington Road, said RCMP spokesman Const. Gary O’Brien.
The man was wanted on four outstanding warrants, including theft charges.
A police dog was called in to track him, and the dog led the officer to an apartment building in the 1600-block of Townsite Road.
The man broke into a second-storey apartment through a sliding glass door, ran through the suite into the hallway and then entered a second suite through the front door, O’Brien said.
The police dog and handler followed and pushed open the door to the second suite, but the dog initially bit the 66-year-old resident of the suite instead of the suspect, O’Brien said.
“The dog handler was right there; he immediately took control and redirected the dog to the suspect,” O’Brien said.
The woman was shaken up and was taken to hospital where she received stitches to close three bite wounds on her wrist, O’Brien said.
“Our members certainly took the time to explain the situation. They treated her, removed her from the scene, stayed with her at the hospital while she received treatment,” he said.
O’Brien said it’s very rare for a police dog to bite a bystander. He said the dog was focused on catching the person behind the door and because the woman was the first person it saw, it went after her.
O’Brien does not believe the woman has filed a complaint.
The suspect was also taken to hospital for bite wounds to his upper arm.
In addition to outstanding warrants, Shaun Alexander McGregor faces charges of break and enter and resisting arrest. He will appear in Nanaimo provincial court today.
[Source]
Recent Comments