SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. – A suspected thief was arrested outside a Spokane Valley store after he attacked Loss Prevention officers and attempted to set his dog on them, the Spokane Valley Police Department reported.
The department said its deputies responded to a reported theft at a store in the 9000 block of E. Montgomery Avenue on Wednesday at 7:25 p.m.
The caller was a customer at the store and told deputies that Loss Prevention officers were attempting to detain a possible shoplifter and that they were struggling with each other in the parking lot.
Moments later, a Loss Prevention officer called the department and said they had detained a theft suspect who had assaulted them while trying to run away.
When deputies arrived, they found the 31-year-old suspect detained by Loss Prevention officers.
The department said deputies learned that the suspect had been seen walking through the store with his dog, which they said likely weighed about 75 pounds. The suspect was allegedly hiding multiple items in his clothes.
Loss Prevention officers told deputies they watched the suspect walk to the front of the store, past all points of sale and leave without paying.
They said they contacted him at the front of the store, but the suspect let his dog off the leash and said something like “get him.”
The dog ran past the officers and bit the hand of the store manager, the officers said. The department said the bite did not break the manager’s skin.
Loss Prevention officers said they tried to detain the suspect, but he “delivered a knee strike.” Then the suspect took a bone out of his coat and turned to run. As he tried to run, he hit one of the officers in the face with his hand, officers said.
Loss Prevention officers said they were able to detain the suspect despite his “continued assaultive behavior.”
Deputies found $125 of stolen property on the suspect and returned it to the store. They also found a felony arrest warrant for him out of Grant County.
Deputies brought the suspect to the hospital for a safety check-up and then booked him into the Spokane County Jail for robbery, theft and assault.
