Officers in Alaska opened fire on a man who fatally wounded a police canine early Sunday morning reported Alaska Dispatch News. The man accused of killing the police canine is identifed as 25-year-old Almando Abarca.
Though officers shot the suspect, he did not die – instead, suffering a non-life threatening shoulder wound. According to a release from the Alaska State Troopers, the situation started when a Palmer Police Officer initiated a traffic stop on a four-door Geo sedan inside the city limits of Palmer.
The Alaska State Troopers were called for assistance when the vehicle began traveling southbound on Glenn Highway. The vehicle eluded police for several miles, but eventually pulled into a driveway. The driver of the vehicle exited the car and ran into nearby woods.
A Palmer Police Officer and an Alaska State Trooper, along with a police canine, pursued the suspect into the woods. The driver, identifed as Abarca, fired multiple times at the canine, who died after being transported to a veterinary hospital.
Abarca is being charged with Assault in the Third Degree (two counts), Harming a Police Dog in the First Degree, Eluding Police, and was remanded on an outstanding $20,000 arrest warrant (PACE warrant for Burglary 2).
The name of the police canine killed on Sunday morning has not yet been released.
(Alaska State Troopers)
With any luck, his shoulder will no longer lift a weapon, or a fork to feed himself.