SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A San Diego police dog was stabbed twice with a barbecue fork while taking down a 20-year-old man suspected of being under the influence of drugs near his family's Egger Highlands home, authorities said Wednesday.
The suspect's family members called police shortly before 11:30 p.m. Tuesday to request that he be evaluated because he was acting erratically and was possibly using a controlled substance. However, the suspect armed himself with a barbecue fork and fled before officers arrived to the home on Coronado Avenue near 16th Street, according to San Diego police Officer Dino Delimitros.
The man later returned and was banging on doors and windows, so officers were sent out again, Delimitros said.
Delimitros said the suspect had again fled before officers arrived, but they caught up to him a few blocks north in the vicinity of 16th Street and Palm Avenue. He was uncooperative, and officers sent in the police dog to help take him into custody.
The suspect plunged the two-pronged cooking utensil into the dog's neck and buttocks before being zapped with an officer's stun gun and placed under arrest, Delimitros said. The dog's injuries were not considered life-threatening.
The suspect was taken to a hospital to be treated for minor injuries sustained in the confrontation, according to the officer.