Wisconsin man accused of choking, gouging eyes of police K9 in Crown Point

CROWN POINT, Ind. - A Wisconsin man was accused of choking a police K9 during his arrest Sunday morning in Crown Point, Indiana.

A Crown Point police officer observed a 2006 black Maserati driving 86 mph in a 45-mph zone around 2:37 a.m. near 93rd Avenue and Main Street, according to police. When the officer tried to initiate a traffic stop, the vehicle continued to speed before stopping roughly a mile away in the 8600 block of Taft Street.

The officer ordered the driver to roll down his car windows, and the driver complied, enough to show his hands. He turned off his vehicle and placed the key fob on the car but refused to open the car doors and exit.,

After ordering him out of the car, Crown Point officer used a police baton to break the passenger window glass to open unlock the car's doors.

Officers warned the suspect if he did not exit the car, they would deploy a police K9, Jack. When he refused to leave the car, officers sent K9 Jack into the vehicle.

The driver of the car gouged the K9's eyes and grabbed the dog around the throat with both of his hands. The attack left "the canine briefly incapacitated and causing his eyes to roll to the back of his head," according to Crown Point police.

A Crown Point police officer struggled with the suspect over the K9 and another officer deployed a taser. The suspect released his grip of the K9 and officers forced him out of the car as he continued to resist arrest, police said.

The suspect was a 32-year-old man from Kenosha, Wisconsin. He was taken to Franciscan Health Crown Point where he was treated for minor injuries and released.

The suspect was then taken to Lake County Jail where he posted a $2,500 bail and has been released from custody.

K9 Jack is in the care of his hander and is "awaiting further medical review," police said.

The suspect has not yet been named or charged by the Lake County Prosecutor's Office.