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Dramatic Video Shows Police Dog Chase Down Florida Man After Alleged Attempted Kidnapping
A K9 named Titan proved he was a very good boy when he arrested a man accused of trying to run off with a baby, police said.
Aided by a trusty police dog, cops chased down a kidnapping suspect in a dramatic scene captured on an officer’s body-worn camera, according to new footage released Wednesday.
Kevin Wilson, 24, was arrested Tuesday after leading cops on a wild chase, first in a vehicle and then on foot as he tried—and failed—to disappear into the woods, police said.
Wilson is accused of breaking into a home in Port Richey, northeast of Tampa, Florida, by climbing in a second-story window, according to police. Once inside the home, the residence of a woman with whom he was barred from having contact, he argued with the woman before grabbing a baby girl in the house and trying to make a break for it, according to police.
“You’ll never see her again,” Wilson told the woman, as he tried to abscond with the baby, according to a police report detailing the incident.
Once outside, the child’s uncle confronted Wilson with a rifle as Wilson held on so tightly to her that he appeared to be choking her, according to the report.
The woman pleaded with Wilson to release the child, telling him he was hurting her, but Wilson held on tightly until the girl’s uncle, armed with a rifle, pointed at the intruder and demanded he let her go, police said.
Staring down the barrel of a gun, Wilson finally handed over the baby, ran to his car, and peeled out in an effort to get away, according to the police report.
Responding to a 911 call, police gave chase, and after some time Wilson crashed his car, according to a statement on Facebook from the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office.
Wilson then leapt from his car and dashed into a wooded area, but police tracked him using a helicopter and a K9 dog named "Titan," according to the report.
In a video taken from one of the officer’s body cam, officers can be seen combing a wooded area for Wilson before Titan picked up his scent and made a beeline for Wilson, who appeared to be trying to hide shirtless in a bush.
“Get him, get him, get him!” the officer cried, as Titan chomped down on Wilson’s arm in an attempt to subdue him, according to the video.
The officer, with gun drawn, then barked orders at Wilson as he gained control of the police dog, interspersing commands with praise for his canine partner.
“Roll over on your stomach, now! Good boy Titan!” the officer shouted. “Roll over or we’re not taking the dog off.”
Wilson, clutching an iPhone in one hand, finally got on his stomach, and was cuffed as the officer yanked Titan clear of the suspect and continued to lavish him with praise.
Wilson, who was treated at a nearby hospital for wounds sustained in the arrest, was charged with neglect of a child causing minor injury, interference with custody, and violation of a restraining order, according to online jail records.
The child sustained minor injuries in the initial fracas at the house, but was otherwise unharmed, police said.
It was not immediately clear what Wilson’s relationship to the woman and the baby girl are.
A spokesman for the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office declined to release any information that might identify the victims.
[Photo Credit: Pasco County Sheriff's Office/Facebook]
