The newest member of the Gary police K9 unit got his first collar late Sunday night.
Nero, who was donated by the Gary Canine Association and formally accepted by the Gary Common Council last week, caught a 16-year-old Gary teen who fled from police as they chased occupants of a stolen car about 11:30 p.m.
The teen was apprehended in an overgrown lot near 27th Avenue and Pierce Street. The 16-year-old tried to fight off Nero’s efforts to hold him until Nero’s handler, Cpl. John Artibey, could release him. The teen was bitten in his arm and two other places during the arrest, Lt. Thomas Pawlak said.
Police saw a GMC Envoy that had been reported stolen in Michigan City on Saturday and tried to stop it. The driver fled and eventually the occupants jumped out. Police set up a perimeter around 26th Avenue and Pierce Street and Artibey and Nero began tracking the passengers’ movements from the SUV.
Detectives in the Juvenile Division are handing the criminal investigation, Pawlak said.
