Police dog killed in suspect's jump

Published: Jan. 2, 2008 at 5:07 PM
Order reprints
OCEANSIDE, Calif., Jan. 2 (UPI) -- An Oceanside, Calif., police dog was killed in the line of duty when a suspect grabbed the dog and took a 200-foot fall into the San Diego Bay, police said.

Police said Stryker, a Belgian Malinois, had knocked a drunken driving suspect to the ground on the San Diego-Coronado Bridge when the suspect picked up the 75-pound animal and jumped over the concrete barricade, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Wednesday.

A California Highway Patrol spokeswoman said the suspect survived the 200-foot drop into the bay and was hospitalized at the University of California San Diego Medical Center with a collapsed lung. The suspect and the police dog's body were fished out of the bay by a Harbor Patrol boat.

The spokeswoman said the man is suspected of causing the death of a police dog, evading arrest and driving under the influence of alcohol.

Officer Greg Rainwater, who trained the dog in 2003, said Stryker's death has been hard on his handler, Officer Kedrick Sadler, who sent the dog after the suspect.

"You spend more time with the dog than you do your family," Rainwater told the Union-Tribune. "Every day you're with that dog, the bond gets stronger."


© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.



The almanac (5 min)
Panetta: Congress not told of CIA program
Biden goes on the road to defend stimulus
The two-edged sword of online games
Rio Tinto employees face spy charges
Ghana prepared to greet Obama
ATVs aren't toys, parents should supervise
fark
Fewer calories allow monkeys to live longer. Good thing you're not a monkey
"Resident found out it's not OK to shoot raccoons and gerbils...He told police that he and his neighbors...
Thousands homeless after China Quake. Quisp unavailable for comment
Ugly-ass okapi born at Denver Zoo. In fact, "okapi" means "ugly-ass" in Swahili
If you find a live grenade in your newly purchased vehicle, you probably shouldn't wait a month...
Family tries to lure back lost dog by spraying their own urine all over town. They then want to...