Wilmington, NC - A suspect in a recent police chase who was bitten by a dog claims he didn't get the chance to surrender.
Last Thursday, several agencies were involved in the arrest of Johnnie Williams.
Police say Williams drove through a DWI checkpoint on Market and 15th Streets around 1:30 Friday morning and almost hit 2 officers.
Dash camera video shows just how dramatic the chase that followed was. At one point a patrol car even turns the wrong way down a one way street trying to catch Williams.
Officers reach him outside of a Wilmington Cemetery, but video shows Williams ramming into a patrol car before taking off again.
Video also shows Williams going up and down Wilmington streets, even running stop signs.
Officers eventually forced Williams to crash. They say after Williams refused to get out of the vehicle, they used a K-9 to get him out of the vehicle.
Williams says the attack happened so fast, he claims he didn't even have the chance to surrender.
"Right when I was raising my hands, the dog came through the window and bam, I got teeth inside my shoulder," said Williams.
He says he realized he had made wrong choices and wanted to run himself in.
"I was stopped, I realized it was a stupid decision that really I shouldn't have done the stuff, the stuff that occurred.
But I didn't deserve the stuff that occurred right here," said Williams gesturing towards his wound.
Williams ended up going to the hospital for treatment of injuries from the police K-9.
He was later charged with speeding to elude arrest, reckless driving and three counts of assault with a deadly weapon on a government official.
Wednesday, Wilmington Police say they have placed the K-9 officer on paid administrative leave until the outcome of the SBI investigation.
"We have asked the SBI to review this case because of the number of agencies involved in the pursuit and we want to make sure our officers followed proper procedure in assisting with this arrest, Wilmington Police Chief Ralph Evangelous said in an emailed statement.
"Bringing in the SBI will help to provide an objective review of the incident."
