Watch: Police Dog Wrestles Gun From Burglary Suspect
Authorities in Florida say a police dog was the hero during a recent domestic disturbance when he was able to disarm the suspect.
According to WFTV, police were called to a home in Pensacola this week in response to reports of an armed man threatening his girlfriend.
The suspect and victim lived nearby, according to a statement from Pensacola Police Department public information officer Mike Wood.
Investigators say 36-year-old Oliver Hurst was armed with a shotgun at around midnight on Thursday when he left his home, walked across the street in the 100 block of North K Street and forced his way into the woman’s residence.
“He threatened the woman with the gun before retreating back to his residence,” Wood said.
When police arrived on the scene a short time later, they reportedly found Hurst sitting on his front porch and ordered him to surrender. Instead, they say the suspect ran inside his home.
“Officers pursued Hurst into the home and observed him grab the shotgun from a couch,” Wood said.
It was at that point that the rookie K-9 officer, an 18-month-old German Shepherd named Foster, rushed to action.
The dog “latched onto the shotgun and pulled it from the hands of Hurst,” Wood said, allowing his human partners to gain the upper hand.
“Officers deployed a Taser on Hurst who was then taken into custody as K-9 Foster took the weapon away from the area and into another room where it was seized by officers,” Wood added.
The incident was captured on an officer’s body camera and the department later shared the footage of “good boy” Foster on its Facebook page.
“K-9 Foster entered the house with Officer Brandon Williams and when he saw this, Foster immediately latched onto the shotgun, wrestled it away from the suspect and carried the shotgun off into another room,” the social media post said. “True story.”
“Obviously, this could have ended a bunch of different ways,” the agency wrote. “Most of them bad. But thanks to the officers’ restraint and a very loyal dog, your officers went home safely and the bad guy went to jail.”
Wood said the animal might have saved the lives of both officers and the suspect.
“Because of the quick actions of K-9 Foster, the suspect was not able to fire the shotgun at police, and the officers did not have to use deadly force on Hurst,” Wood said.
Police arrested the suspect at the scene. He is expected to face criminal charges including armed burglary, aggravated assault, battery, criminal mischief and aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer.
In his statement, Wood acknowledged the “generous donations” of locals Dana and Lisa Foster, who made the addition of Foster and another K-9 officer, Nashoba, to the local police force.
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