Garden Grove K-9 takes down suspect who evaded police for miles

A police K-9 took down a suspect in Irvine Regional Park after he had evaded police for miles, ending a chase that began early Monday, Sept. 24 in Garden Grove.

Officers had tried to pull over a vehicle at Euclid Street and Katella Avenue in Anaheim at 2:17 a.m. but it continued on. It was immediately unknown why they were trying to pull over the driver, identified as 29-year-old Juan Mercado of National City.

The vehicle went into nearby Garden Grove, where that’s city officers picked up the chase.

“Immediately after the pursuit began, officers deployed spike strips in attempts to immobilize the driver,” Garden Grove police Sgt. Charles Loffler said in a statement. “The strips blew the tires; however, Mercado continued to evade the officers in his vehicle.”

Garden Grove police made multiple attempts to use the PIT maneuver, where a police cruiser nudges the suspect’s vehicle to spin it out control and to a stop, but were still unable to bring Mercado to a halt.

“During the PIT attempts, the suspect intentionally swerved at the approaching officers and rammed their police vehicles,” police said.

Mercado fled east on Katella for several miles until he drove through the front gate of Irvine Regional Park in Orange near Santiago Canyon and Jamboree roads.

After that, Mercado ran from the disable vehicle but was caught by a police K-9 who took him down. Mercado was taken to a hospital, where he was treated for his injuries from the K-9 bite.