A Prince Albert man is facing multiple charges after fleeing a stolen vehicle and attempting to fight off a police dog.

The pursuit began inauspiciously on Tuesday at 10:15 a.m. when local police pulled over an eastbound vehicle on Highway 55 west of the Pinegrove turnoff for a speeding infraction.

As the officer approached the vehicle, the suspect fled and a brief pursuit followed.

The suspect turned north onto Sixth Avenue Northeast and stopped within a short distance before abandoning the vehicle and fleeing on foot into the bush.

Before the officer could chase down the suspect, police protocol required checking the vehicle for safety.

“We don’t know what’s left in the vehicle,” Sgt. Kelly McLean noted. “Is there somebody in there? Are there weapons in there? Why did he abandon the vehicle right away?

“So protocol has us checking that vehicle first, and by that time he’s long gone into the bush.”

At that point, a K-9 unit was called in to track the suspect.

The canine in question was police service dog Jagger, who took 15 minutes to arrive on the scene from home -- accompanied by his handler, Const. Clint Rudderham -- because he was not on active duty at the time.

Upon arriving at the scene, Rudderham deployed Jagger into the bush to track down the suspect.

“He’s not in there very far,” McLean said. “It’s probably less than 10 minutes before they locate him. But that bush is thick -- like, really thick there, thick to the point that it’s very, very difficult to move.”

Fortunately for his pursuers, the man left a visible trail while breaking through the bush, allowing Rudderham and Jagger to locate him relatively quickly.

Eventually, they found the male suspect concealed in thick bush underneath the roots of a tree.

“I saw the pictures. I didn’t go to the scene myself, because frankly the dog handler’s in almost waist-deep water at a couple points,” McLean said.

“It’s kind of almost like a cave or a den sort of a thing underneath the roots of a tree that he’s gone underneath, and the dog is indicating hard that there’s somebody there.”

Life’s all about decisions and he makes the wrong one. - Sgt. Kelly McLean

Though it was evident the suspect was hiding there, the man refused to comply with police demands to come out and show his hands, even after being warned several times that a police dog would be sent in.

Finally, Rudderham sent Jagger after the suspect. In situations involving police dogs, suspects are given repeated opportunities to surrender first.

In this case, the suspect chose a different option.

“He’s given another opportunity to come out, and instead he tries to actually fight the dog,” McLean said.

“He goes hands-on with the dog, which is a crazy thing to do. I’ve never understood why people do that. That amazes me. But anyway, that’s the decision he made … Life’s all about decisions and he makes the wrong one.”

Though the altercation took place largely outside the view of Jagger’s handler, the suspect reportedly was seen making motions towards the dog’s head and attempting to grab onto his ears.

The suspect ultimately proved no match for the well-trained police dog.

“Jagger does his job and he pretty much pulls him out of there, and at some point he decides that he’s made the wrong decision and he gives up, and the dog -- immediately on command -- he lets go, the dog releases him and they take him into custody.”

Immediately following his arrest, the suspect was taken to the Victoria Hospital for treatment of a bite wound to his upper arm.

Jagger, by contrast, was not injured during the arrest and returned to duty immediately.

The 33-year-old male suspect is charged with theft of a motor vehicle and failing to stop for police, as well as disqualified driving. He was scheduled to appear in Prince Albert Provincial Court on Wednesday morning.