Stockton Police Shoot, Kill Suspect Who Attacked K-9 With Hammer
STOCKTON (CBS13) – Officers say there were forced to fire at a man who attacked a police K-9 with a hammer late Tuesday night.
According to the Stockton Police Department, just before midnight officers were called to a house on Martinique Court for reports of a person armed with a hammer, vandalizing a house.
Officers who responded to the scene confronted the man and kept telling him to put the hammer down. When he did not comply, the officers sent in a K-9.
When the K-9 was hit with the hammer, the K-9's partner went in. That's when two officers shot the suspect several times. He later died at a nearby hospital.
"You really have to think what's happening, what are the dangers, and make those decisions that are going to protect you but also anyone else in the immediate area," said Officer Joe Silva with the Stockton Police Department.
The K-9 suffered a laceration to its snout, but is reportedly doing fine and has already been reunited with its partner.
Police have only identified the suspect shot as a 35-year-old man.
Two other Stockton Police K-9s were stabbed were stabbed in January.
During an incident on January 7, Rocky, a 6-year-old Dutch Shepherd, was stabbed in the neck by a break-in suspect. He was taken to an emergency vet in Stockton after the incident, and was expected to recover on its own. The suspect, who was identified later as 25-year-old Patrick Wetter, allegedly charged at officers with the knife. He was injured and pronounced dead at the scene.
On January 1, San Joaquin County Sheriff's Department K-9 Hakoon was cut on the neck while serving a search warrant on a suspect holed up inside of a Stockton home.
The dog was taken to a nearby veterinary hospital where it underwent surgery and received a blood transfusion. The surgery was successful and Hakoon was sent home with its handler.
The suspect, 44-year-old Joe Eduard Bindi, was booked into the San Joaquin County Jail in French Camp on various charges, including causing serious injury to a law enforcement animal and resisting arrest. He is not eligible for bail.
