PORT HUENEME : Police Dog Accidentally Bites Officer in Struggle

A Port Hueneme police officer was injured Saturday when a police dog inadvertently bit his arm during a struggle with a suspected car burglar, authorities said.

Officer John Brisslinger, who sustained several cuts, including a deep one on his left arm, was taken to St. John’s Regional Medical Center, where he was treated and released, authorities said.

The suspect, 20-year-old Galdino Cuanas of Oxnard, was captured after the police dog, Dingo, assisted officers in a yard-to-yard search of about a dozen houses in a Port Hueneme neighborhood, police said.

The incident began about 6:30 a.m. when Brisslinger, who was on routine patrol, saw a man breaking into a car parked in the 700 block of Myrna Drive.

The suspect bolted and began running through residents’ back yards, police said.

Additional officers from Port Hueneme and Oxnard were called, and a block-long perimeter was set up.

“He would hide and take off running,” Sgt. Jerry Beck said of the suspect.

After about 30 minutes, police tracked the suspect to a back yard in the 800 block of Myrna Drive, where he again attempted to flee but was caught by Brisslinger.

A struggle ensued, during which Dingo, a 5-year-old German shepherd, bit the officer, authorities said.

“This was a violent struggle and unfortunately when he bit down, he bit down on the wrong arm,” Beck said.

Cuanas was booked at the Port Hueneme Police Department on suspicion of auto burglary and resisting arrest. Police were investigating whether he is responsible for a rash of car burglaries that have occurred during the past month in south Oxnard and Port Hueneme.

Some residents were awakened by the early-morning search. “They were real good about it,” Beck said. “Recently a neighborhood watch had been formed in that area. They were real happy to see us pursuing a suspect.”