Featured Image Credit: ABC
Topics: US News, Crime, Animal Cruelty
Emily Brown
Members of the public have been left concerned over events which unfolded in a live feed of police chasing an armed robbery suspect.
Officers from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department were filmed pursuing the suspect as he fled through LA on Tuesday (13 December) in a car with at least two other people inside.
The chase ended near Imperial Highway and Paramount Boulevard, when the driver stopped the car and ran on foot towards a strip mall.
Advert
It wasn't immediately clear in the footage where the driver went, but officers who pursued him on foot appeared to suspect he had gone into a liquor store as they approached the door and looked inside.
Shortly after the driver fled the car, a man was spotted walking along the front of the strip mall. He appeared to be wearing different clothes to the suspect, and reporters covering the incident expressed belief it was not the same man.
However, footage shows the man putting his hands up to indicate he is not armed, and a few seconds later a K-9 could be seen pulling at his clothes as he lay curled on the ground.
The man was handcuffed to a gurney and treated for his wounds, ABC7 reports, but witnesses told the publication he had nothing to do with the chase.
They identified him as a man called Angel, a frequent customer of the liquor store, and said he'd just stopped there to buy a drink when police arrived in the area.
"My customer took the beer and the police dog bit him," said store owner Suran Jikh.
California Highway Patrol said after the incident that officers later found the driver and a total of three people were taken into custody, though authorities did not issue an update on Angel.
Police said all three people arrested had been inside the vehicle involved in the police chase. The LA County Sheriff's Department explained the driver had been wanted for reckless driving, but deputies later discovered the car was linked to an armed robbery in El Monte.
Bruce Thomas, an ABC7 law enforcement expert, claimed authorities would take Angel to the hospital to be treated, saying 'that's just part of the the requirement when the use of force is conducted by an officer'.
However, Thomas further claimed authorities would also 'go to the hospital and try to mitigate the damages' involved in the incident.
UNILAD has reached out to the LA County Sheriff's Department for further clarification on the case.