Police dog puts bite on suspect

By BILL VARIAN

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 23, 2000

Caezar, a deputy dog with the Citrus County Sheriff's Office, helped take a bite out of crime Tuesday when he clamped down on an Inverness man who authorities say was breaking into a Hernando bar.

Deputies responded to the Hernando Hideaway bar on U.S. 41 after a newspaper carrier noticed the business had a broken plywood door, and possibly someone inside, the Sheriff's Office reported. One of the officers had Caezar, a nearly 4-year-old deputized German shepherd used to search buildings.

The deputies shouted three times for anyone inside to leave the building or they would loose the pooch. They got no response. They entered the building with Caezar, finding Brett Eugene Hinkle, 44, of Inverness, in the kitchen area, reports showed.

Caezar's handler, Deputy Matt Paul, noticed a kitchen knife on the counter near Hinkle. Three times he ordered the man to raise his hands, without response. So he gave the signal to Caezar, who pinned Hinkle by clamping onto his right shoulder until he could be handcuffed.

Hinkle was treated for bite marks at Citrus Memorial Hospital, according to his arrest report, then taken to the Citrus County Detention Facility and charged with burglary, as well as two unrelated counts of passing a worthless check. He was being held Wednesday on $6,300 bail.

It would be the second time in two days that deputies foiled a burglary in process, which is unusual, said sheriff's spokeswoman Ronda Hemminger Evan.

Shannon Lon Schenck, 27, of Brooksville was charged with multiple counts, including burglary and grand theft, after a deputy responding to an alarm at Classic Ventures Inc., 2912 N Florida Ave. (U.S. 41), saw Schenck hop into a car and flee, police said. He is accused of taking computer equipment and an envelope scale from the business.

Schenck was being held Wednesday afternoon at the jail on $10,000 bail.

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.