Two officers taken to hospital
A dog trained to take a bite out of crime mistakenly took it out of crime fighters Thursday afternoon when police tried to subdue a suspect.
And by the time Terre Haute police K-9 "Cinto" let go, two police officers had to be carried away on stretchers.
Officers Derek Cerny and Bryan Baker were treated and released from Union Hospital.
Cerny, a West Terre Haute police officer, was attacked by the dog as he tried to stop a man fleeing on foot near 13 1/2 and Harrison streets in Terre Haute.
Cerny had pulled over the man's mini-van in West Terre Haute, before the driver fled toward Terre Haute. The chase ended about three miles away, with the suspect -- Kevin L. Wilkins -- ditching his car in an alley and running about half a block, where police tackled him
Terre Haute police Officer Brian Worley said he let go of Cinto, hoping the German shepherd would assist in the takedown.
Instead, the dog attacked Cerny and Terre Haute police officer Baker.
"It was mass chaos," Worley said. "I let the dog go in front of the suspect. [The officers] couldn't hear because of all the sirens going and ran right in front of the dog."
As Worley first ordered the dog to stop, "he just couldn't hear me -- just like all the officers couldn't hear me."
When the dog finally heard the order to stop, Baker had two puncture wounds to the right forearm while Cerny had been bitten on his right hip, right leg and right side of his face.
Wilkins also suffered injuries and was taken by ambulance to the hospital, said city police Sgt. Dave Smith.
The pursuit began after Wilkins allegedly ran four stop signs in West Terre Haute. When Cerny pulled over the mini-van at McIlroy and Rigy streets, Wilkins got out and walked back toward the officer's sport utility vehicle. Wilkins fled after Cerny ordered the man back into the mini-van, said Detective Mark Arnold of the West Terre Haute Police Department.
Wilkins, 41, of Terre Haute also was wanted on a failure to appear warrant for a January 2002 Vigo County felony case, but that was not known at the time of the initial traffic stop, Arnold said.
Police later found a six-pack size cooler behind Wilkins' seat with ice spilled on the floorboard. Two beers, which were unopened, were discovered under the driver's seat, Arnold said.
The chase not only drew more than half a dozen police, but also a crowd of spectators as it came to an end.
Robert Joyner said he was sitting in his yard about 4:50 p.m. near 12th and Cruft streets when he spotted two police cars in pursuit of a gray mini-van. He followed the action about four blocks away, where he noticed a police officer on a stretcher.
Worley, who stood in the street lined with squad cars as his dog rested in the back of a Jeep Cherokee, noted that Cinto did what he was supposed to do.
"Only it happened to the wrong people," he said.
Wilkins was being treated late Thursday in the emergency room, a nursing supervisor said. The nature of his injuries was not clear, and he could not be reached for comment.
Karin Grunden can be reached at (812) 231-4214 or karin.grunden@tribstar.com.
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.