American Canyon police K9 bites bystander during arrest of felony suspect
AMERICAN CANYON – A police K9 bit an innocent bystander during an incident in American Canyon over the weekend.
American Canyon police say, early Saturday afternoon, officers were trying to arrest 48-year-old James Spencer after he crashed near Highway 29 and Mini Drive.
Spencer was allegedly noncompliant, so a police K9 was deployed.
However, police say the K9 bypassed Spencer and instead went after a bystander who was apparently trying to run away from the scene.
That innocent bystander turned out to be a 19-year-old man who was begging in the center median. Police say he was bitten on both of his hands, but he initially declined medical attention. Officers were able to convince him to be taken to the hospital to be evaluated, where doctors found his injuries to be minor.
Police were able to arrest Spencer without further incident. He was booked into the Napa County Department of Corrections.