Deputy Barks Out Orders and Makes a Collar

Joe Flores is one deputy sheriff whose bark is definitely worse than his bite.

In fact, his bark is so fierce and sounds so authentic that he persuaded a wrongdoer to surrender without a police dog at all.

Flores and his partner were patrolling a rural area last month when they discovered a parked car in an orchard, said Mark Tracy, a Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Department spokesman.

“Two people jumped out of the car and ran. . . . It was a prostitution situation,” Tracy said.

Flores chased the couple into a field and found the woman hiding in a furrow.

“She didn’t have her pants on,” Tracy said. “They took her back to the car. . . . About two rows up they saw the man. He began to run. Flores called out to halt or he’d let the dog go. The guy continued to run.

“Flores then broke into a rage of uncontrolled barking. The guy immediately stopped, threw up his hands and gave up.”

The man was charged with a misdemeanor, Tracy said.

And, he said with a laugh, “We don’t even have any dogs in the department.”

Flores said the incident shows that invisible dogs may be the most “cost-effective” kind.