Police K-9 helps catch DUI suspect after hit-and-run crash

CNN/Stylemagazine.com Newswire | 5/15/2018, 2:15 p.m.
A man suspected of driving under the influence and running away from the scene of a vehicle accident was arrested …
A man suspected of driving under the influence and running away from the scene of a vehicle accident was arrested Sunday evening with the help of a police K-9 in Rancho Cucamonga, according to authorities.

By Juan Flores

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CALIF. (KTLA) -- A man suspected of driving under the influence and running away from the scene of a vehicle accident was arrested Sunday evening with the help of a police K-9 in Rancho Cucamonga, according to authorities.

Shortly before 7 p.m., deputies with the Rancho Cucamonga Police Department responded to a single-vehicle rollover traffic collision in the 5200 block of Day Creek Boulevard, officials stated in a news release. When deputies arrived, they discovered that the driver, later identified as Ryan Rocha, 28, of Colton, had fled the area, so K-9 Dare was brought to the scene to help search for the suspect, according to the Police Department.

The police dog was able to acquire a scent trailing from the crashed vehicle and into a nearby field covered with sagebrush, where the suspect was attempting to hide, the statement read.

As deputies approached Rocha, he ran and jumped over a wall into the backyard of a home, authorities said. Dare acquired the suspect’s scent once again and led deputies to a trash can at a home in the 5400 block of Dundee Court, officials stated. Deputies searched the area and found Rocha hiding in the bottom of the trash can, trying to conceal himself with freshly-cut grass, according to the news release.

Rocha was arrested and booked at the West Valley Detention Center on suspicion of DUI, hit-and-run, obstructing/resisting an officer and an unrelated warrant, authorities said. His bail was set at $65,000.

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