K-9’s bite helps DCSO catch fleeing fugitive near La Pine
A 19-year-old Marion County fugitive ran from a traffic stop near La Pine on Sunday afternoon, but the bite of a Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office K-9 helped authorities take him into custody, deputies said.
Patrol deputies stopped a vehicle around 11:40 a.m. on Highway 97 near Rocking Horse Road, south of Bend, Sgt. James McLaughlin said.
Deputies later learned that Aryan Lee Gledhill was a passenger in the vehicle and that he had two outstanding felony arrest warrants for aggravated harassment, McLaughlin said.
Other deputies were notified of the vehicle as a search got under way, and about 12:20 p.m., a deputy spotted Gledhill in the vehicle heading south on Highway 97 near La Pine.
Deputies coordinated a traffic stop near the 51000 block of Highway 97, McLaughlin said, but Gledhill hot out and ran across Highway 97 as deputies gave chase.
Deputy Keith Slater deployed his K-9 partner Brolo, who with the help of other deputies apprehended Gledhill about 30 yards from the traffic stop. Traffic in both directions stopped to allow the suspect and pursuing deputies to safely cross, the sergeant said.
La Pine Fire medics treated Gledhill at the scene for non-life-threatening dog bite injuries. He was later taken to the county jail in Bend, where he was held on the outstanding warrants and new charges of second-degree escape, misdemeanor attempt to elude, felony methamphetamine possession, resisting arrest and second-degree disorderly conduct.
Court records show Gledhill pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated harassment in Marion County last fall and was sentenced to three years probation, with numerous conditions. He admitted twice propelling saliva, ” a dangerous substance, ” at officials in September 2017 and January 2018.
