A heroic police dog came to the rescue of his handler when he tackled a metal thief who attacked them with a HACKSAW.
PC Jonathan Wood and faithful sidekick Ivan came face to face with burglar Michael Stokes, 25, as he cut through copper piping.
Stokes, who fled the scene at a business school in Wolverhampton, West Mids., was quickly brought down by the two-year-old German Shepherd.
He continued to resist arrest by slashing wildly with his hacksaw blade – even slicing PC Wood across the ear.
But brave Ivan helped protect his handler by clamping his jaws round Stokes’ leg until police support arrived to make an arrest.
Stokes was jailed for 12 months at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Wednesday after he admitted the break-in and assault.
PC Wood and other officers were deployed to the business school in the early hours of May 30 last year following a call from security staff reporting a break-in.
They found Stokes, from Wolverhampton, had already cut through several lengths of copper piping and stashed them outside.
Remarkably, the West Midlands Police officer had only been working with Ivan for six months at the time of the attack.
PC Wood said: “I went in first with Ivan to check if an intruder was on the premises.
“Soon I spotted flashes of torchlight and the sound of sawing coming from the boiler room.
“When we approached, a man came out carrying a hacksaw with a foot-long blade.
“He was clearly startled to see us and determined not to go quietly.
“Ivan gave chase and grabbed hold of his right arm.
“He took swipes at both me and the dog with the hacksaw and I wrestled the man to the floor whilst Ivan took hold of his left leg.
“At the time we’d only been working together for six months and for a young dog in service Ivan performed brilliantly and never backed down.
“He protected me the best way he could throughout the whole incident and helped me detain a violent thief.”
PC Wood was treated for head injuries and a slice to his ear caused by the hacksaw blade but Ivan was uninjured.
Dog Unit Manager, Inspector Russ Evans, said the force’s police dogs are trained to instinctively protect their handlers.
He added: “We train dogs in scenarios where their handler comes under attack, in fact the exercise forms part of the annual licensing criteria.
“Once trained, the dog will instinctively fend off the attacker without being verbally instructed to do so by its handler.
“Over time the dogs develop strong emotional and professional bonds with their handler and again they will instinctively move to protect them from danger.”
