Riverside Police Department Press Release

Officer Injured from Dog Bite and Gun Shot Wound
 

Riverside, Ca-  On Thursday, April 10, 2003 at approximately 10:54 am, officers from the Riverside Police Department’s Problem Oriented Policing Team attempted to contact four male adults loitering at a vacant residence in the 1800 block of 7th Street. The officers were checking the property due to recent narcotics activity and one of the structures on the property was deemed unsafe by the City of Riverside Code Compliance.

The subjects fled from the officers towards the rear of the property. During the foot pursuit, officers ran past several pit bull dogs. As one of the officers ran past the dogs, a dog bit the officer on the leg and held the bite. The injured officer and an assisting officer fired their duty weapons at the dog. The dog was hit by at least one of the rounds and expired at the scene. The officer that was bitten by the dog received a single gunshot wound to his leg. It has not yet been determined which round struck the officer, pending further investigation.

The officer was transported to Riverside Community Hospital by Riverside Police personnel. At the time of this press release, he was under-going surgery for a non-life threatening injury to his leg.

The suspects involved in the foot pursuit continued to flee from the officers jumping over several back yards in near by residences. Two of the four suspects were located in a near-by apartment complex and were taken into custody. Investigating officers located a substantial amount of rock cocaine at the vacant property where the officers initially attempted to contact the suspects. Investigators traced the path the suspects took to flee from the officers and found additional amounts of rock cocaine. Both suspects were arrested for Possession of Controlled Substance for Sales and booked into the Riverside County Jail.