Suspect gets 3 bites from police dog, 2 Taser zaps

[January 28, 2009]  ELKO, Nev. (AP) -- A 19-year-old suspect in northeast Nevada may not be a very good prowler but there's no denying he's one tough cookie. Elko County sheriff's deputies said the man had to be zapped with a Taser twice and bitten by a police dog three times before he stopped struggling with officers during a recent arrest.

Lt. Doug Gailey said officers were responding to a report of a prowler at 3 a.m. on Sunday when they spotted some footprints in the snow by the home's doors, windows and even on the top of an air conditioning unit.

He said they called in the police dog named "Besmo," which caught a scent and led them to the man who was sitting in his vehicle on a neighboring parkway and appeared to be intoxicated.

He said the man refused to remove his hands from his sweat shirt pocket and exit the vehicle, so the dog was ordered to jump through an open window and help extract him.

Deputies pulled him to the ground but he still wouldn't comply so the dog was ordered to bite him again.

Still unfazed, Gailey said the suspect was zapped with a Taser but still wouldn't give in. A third attack by the dog and another blast from the stun gun finally did the trick.

He's been charged with attempted burglary, obstructing an officer and destruction of private property.

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Information from: Elko Daily Free Press, http://www.elkodaily.com/

[Associated Press]

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