Park Forest, IL-(ENEWSPF)- Park Forest’s K9 Tucker and his handler Officer Charles Karl tracked down a juvenile who allegedly fled during a traffic stop in what police said was a stolen vehicle.
According to police, it was around 12:30 p.m. on Monday, January 28, when Officer Ryan Purdy attempted a traffic stop on a stolen vehicle near Wildwood Drive and Westgate Drive. The driver sped away, police said.
Less than a minute later, the driver lost control and the vehicle struck a tree. A juvenile passenger was apprehended at the scene, but the juvenile driver fled the location on foot, according to police.
Enter K9 Tucker.
Officer Charles Karl and K9 Tucker successfully tracked the driver to a nearby garage where he was found barricaded behind storage boxes. The driver was arrested and later petitioned to juvenile court on charges of possession of a stolen motor vehicle, aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a peace officer, and other various felony and misdemeanor offenses. The passenger was petitioned on a charge of criminal trespass to motor vehicle.
There were no injuries in the crash.
According to police, this was not K9 Tucker’s first dance with this particular juvenile. Police report that the driver was the same individual that K9 Tucker tracked on January 14 after he allegedly committed an armed vehicular hijacking in a neighboring town. He also has two additional cases pending for serious crimes that allegedly occurred in November 2018.
“Besides K9 Tucker really liking this person, what else stands out about the story?” police asked in a social media post.