WATCH: Body Camera Video Shows Police Dog Chasing, Catching Suspect
A Florida police department released video Wednesday of a chase involving a suspect and one of its K9 officers. The Pasco County Sheriff’s office posted video showing the August 15 incident in which the police dog chased the suspect, caught up with him and held him until officers arrived.
“K9 Shep caught the suspect, Michael Brick Jr. after he fled from a traffic stop,” the Pasco County Sheriff’s office wrote alongside the video on Facebook Wednesday. “Notice how fast Shep is running! His handler, Nick Carmack, is one of our fastest runners, but Shep is having no trouble leading the charge!”
Shep and Carmack can be seen going after the suspect for just seconds before the dog catches him and tackles him to the ground. The dog was able to pin the suspect to the ground until Carmack arrived and put him in handcuffs.
“They just struck a vehicle, we’re about to bail,” Carmack can be heard saying on the radio before getting out of his car alongside Shep.
“Get ‘em! Get ‘em!” Carmack shouted to Shep, who sped off to catch up to Brick.
The video had been viewed more than 350,000 times as of Thursday, drawing a wide array of comments on the Pasco County Sheriff’s department’s Facebook page.
“Why are you yelling at him to put his hands behind his back when the dog is still biting him?” read one of the top comments, written by Angela Wix. “Of course your reflex is going to be trying to protect the spot where the dog is biting. Do you really expect for people to calmly lay there and place their hands behind them while the dog is still attacking him? Why didn’t you call the off once you had your hands on him?”
Other commenters disagreed.
“The dog stays engaged because that’s his job!” wrote Will Lambert. “If the suspect has a gun under him, for the officer's safety the dog bites the suspect to distract him until the officer gets compliance with his verbal and physical commands! Bottom line is don’t run from officers.”
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