Authorities: Parolee in stolen car Tased, arrested after fighting police dog

Tustin police arrested a man they said fled from officers in a stolen car and fought a police dog before he was Tased and taken into custody on Tuesday, Sept. 11.

Dispatchers received word of a suspicious car near the 13200 block of Myford Road sometime before 5:51 am, according to a news release from the Tustin Police Department.

A department spokesman, Lt. Bob Wright, said officers responding to the call found a man sitting in a black Infinity Q50 that had been stolen in Huntington Beach. They attempted to contact the car’s occupant, but when police approached him, the man immediately drove off, hitting buildings, light poles and parked vehicles as he attempted to evade police, according to the news release.

After crashing into a parked car and wrecking the stolen vehicle, the suspect fled on foot and was pursued by Kingsley, a police dog, said the release. The man fought with the animal before he was Tased and taken into custody.

He was briefly hospitalized for injuries sustained during the fight and later identified in the release as Justin Hayes, 27, of Orange.

There were two warrants out for his arrest and he was on Post Community Release Supervision at the time he was taken into custody, the release said. He is scheduled to be booked at the Orange County Jail on suspicion of vehicle theft, possession of stolen property, resisting arrest, felony vandalism and battery on a police service dog, in addition to his outstanding warrants.

Kingsley and responding officers were not seriously injured in the incident, Wright said.