By Sarah Roebuck
Police1
UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. — In a unique approach to coax hidden teen car theft suspects, a Pierce County sheriff’s deputy mimicked the bark of a K-9 unit about to be deployed.
During the morning of Aug. 18, deputies responded to a cemetery in University Place for the report of a stolen vehicle, the sheriff’s office said.
A Pierce County sheriff’s sergeant deployed stop sticks and successfully flattened all four tires of the stolen vehicle, but the four teenage suspects were able to drive around a corner and flee into a wooded area on foot.
The sheriff’s office said a deputy spotted the suspects in a ravine nearby.
“Don’t make us release our K-9!” the deputy can be heard saying on the body-worn camera video.
That’s when the deputy took an interesting approach to trick the suspects into surrendering. The deputy started barking as if the K-9 was with them. There was not actually a K-9 with the deputy. After the deputy pretended to bark a few more times, two of the suspects came out of hiding.
As the suspects were being arrested, the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office said the suspects told deputies: “Man, as soon as I heard that dog, I gave up.”
The other two suspects were arrested shortly after the first two made their way out of the wooded area.
“Awesome job and an A+ for creativity in figuring out a way to get these juvenile car thieves to surrender!” the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office said.