A nimble K-9 dog in Vancouver, Washington, ended a 40-minute standoff with a noncompliant driver by leaping through the driver’s window and occupying him long enough for police to move in and arrest the man.
The incident was the climax of a pursuit after multiple callers reported a driver who allegedly appeared to be “impaired,” was inhaling from compressed air cans, and at times was even passed out behind the wheel, Vancouver Police reported in a statement Thursday.
Patrolmen located the vehicle and also observed the driver inhaling something from a can. They ordered the driver to pull over, but instead he “struck a curb, accelerated, and nearly drove into a yard,” police said.
The driver’s actions created “an immediate danger to others on the road,” police said.
They initiated a pursuit.
However, rather than chase the apparently inebriated driver for very long, one of the officers deployed what is known as a Grappler, a clever device that attaches a lead to the car’s undercarriage, tethering the vehicle to the police car.
When the police car slows and stops, the captured vehicle has no choice but to do the same.
According to Vancouver Police:
Even after being stopped, the driver refused to get out of the vehicle. Officers spent more than 40 minutes giving commands, communicating with the driver, and evaluating different options, including a 40mm less-lethal launcher and pepper balls, to gain compliance. During that time, the driver continued inhaling from compressed air cans and refused to surrender.
“Driver out the vehicle,” one of the officers shouts on the video released by the department. “Exit from the vehicle with nothing in your hands.”
That’s when the highly trained police dog took over.
Bodycam video shows the dog running toward the car on a long leash. The canine leaps through the car window and into the lap of the suspect. His handler quickly shortens the leash, the action looking like a giant version of a fisherman reeling in his catch.
The suspect can be heard screaming inside the car.
Four officers then approach and eventually pull the man from the vehicle and cuff him.
Police did not release information as to what substance the man was inhaling from the cans. However, it’s a common practice among drug abusers to get whipping cream cans and for a high inhale the nitrous oxide – also known as “laughing gas” – used by food manufacturers to compress the topping.
The suspect, identified as Brandon Wells, was booked into the Clark County Jail on charges that included driving under the influence, resisting arrest, reckless driving, and attempt to elude police, according the Vancouver Police Department’s statement.
Breitbart contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of the Los Angeles crime novel Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
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