Collared

A suspected teen bank robber and kidnapper ran right into the teeth of the law Thursday after he crashed a car and fled on foot into a police dog training arena.

The 17-year-old, an armed fugitive from Colorado, was arrested after a police dog flushed him from a bush in which he was hiding, police said.

“Once the dog grabbed onto him he wanted to give up,” Ventura Police Lt. Bill Bogner said. “The dog is trained to go for an arm or hand but if the foot is closest thing, they’ll go for that.”

After being persuaded to drop his 9-millimeter semiautomatic pistol, the teen was taken to the Ventura County Medical Center and treated for minor abrasions received during his scuffle with Edu, a male German shepherd.

“He is an out-of-towner and didn’t pick the right place to run to,” said Eric Nishimoto, a sheriff’s spokesman. “But it worked out well because the bottom line is he got stuck and we apprehended him.”

The teen drove to Ventura County from New Mexico, where he was wanted on suspicion of armed robbery and kidnapping, authorities said. On Tuesday, the teen allegedly committed a robbery in Bloomfield, N.M., and then fired at pursuing officers, authorities said. He escaped, but two accomplices were arrested.

The teen then allegedly stole a Dodge from a man at gunpoint in San Juan County, N.M., Nishimoto said. The teen allegedly forced the driver to accompany him before releasing him unharmed, he said.

About 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, authorities believe the teen robbed a clerk at gunpoint at a convenience store in the San Bernardino County community of Yermo. Authorities said the teen told the clerk he would not be taken alive and that he was headed toward Los Angeles or San Diego.

Shortly before 1 a.m. Thursday, two Ventura County sheriff’s deputies tried to pull the teen over after he made an illegal turn in Oxnard, authorities said. But the driver headed toward the Ventura Freeway and raced north at speeds exceeding 90 mph, authorities said. The officers recognized the stolen vehicle from information they had received earlier and called for backup, Nishimoto said.

The driver got off the freeway, drove south on Telephone Road and then east on Valentine Road until he reached a dead-end, where he attempted to reenter the freeway by speeding through a fence, Nishimoto said.

“After he crashed into it, he couldn’t extricate the car by driving backward or forward, so he took off on foot,” Nishimoto said.

“He ran across the freeway and inadvertently headed for the Ventura Police Department’s training area.” The canine training area is on Ralston Street adjacent to the freeway.

Nishimoto said the teen was being held at Juvenile Hall on local charges of resisting arrest, possession of a loaded firearm in public and driving a stolen vehicle. He said the teen would be extradited to New Mexico soon.

“He seems like one of those bad guys--a hard-core criminal,” Nishimoto said. “The charges he’s being held on are misdemeanors here, but he was just plain dangerous. He committed serious crimes in New Mexico.”