A 14-year-old girl was bitten on the leg Tuesday by a police dog that had been sent after a fleeing suspect on St. Paul's East Side.
The girl was not seriously injured and was treated at Children's Hospital and released, according to Nicholas O'Hara, Ramsey County sheriff's inspector.
The Ramsey County sheriff's dog, Donner, was chasing a suspect who had allegedly tried to run over the dog's handler in a stolen 1988 Cadillac Deville.
Sgt. Robert Pavlak and Donner had aided St. Paul police earlier in making an arrest in the 1500 block of Margaret Street. After the arrest, Pavlak was walking northbound on Hazelwood Street about 2:30 p.m. when he saw the Cadillac speeding toward him.
Pavlak motioned to the driver to slow down and then pulled out his handgun and ordered the driver to pull over, but the driver continued to drive toward Pavlak, O'Hara said. Pavlak jumped to the west side of the street and the Cadillac sped away.
Pavlak and St. Paul police officers gave chase and found the abandoned Cadillac crashed on Kennard Street between Fifth and Sixth streets, O'Hara said. Pavlak spotted the driver running away and released Donner after him.
The suspect disappeared behind a building, and the 14-year-old girl came out of a nearby house as Donner was giving chase, O'Hara said.
"She came out of the house, and the dog went to her and apprehended her," O'Hara said. "Donner had apprehended a 14-year-old female by the right leg."
Pavlak released the girl from the dog.
"He removes the dog from the little girl's leg and took her into the house and notified the girl's mom," O'Hara said.
Shortly afterward, the chase continued, and Pavlak again spotted the fleeing suspect, who had tried to kick in the door of a house in the 1600 block of Fourth Street. Pavlak called for the suspect to stop or he would release the dog, O'Hara said.
"The suspect continued running, and the dog apprehended him by the right bicep," O'Hara said.
The suspect, who is 17 years old, was taken to Regions Hospital and treated before being turned over to the Ramsey County Juvenile Detention Center. He faces possible assault and auto theft charges, O'Hara said.
The names of the suspect and the girl who was bitten were not released.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bill Gardner can be reached at wgardner@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5461.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. NoNonsense English offers this material non-commercially for research and educational purposes. I believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner, i.e. the media service or newspaper which first published the article online and which is indicated at the top of the article unless otherwise specified.