Garden Grove : Police Dog Flushes Out Armed-Robbery Suspect

A suspect in an armed robbery dodged police bullets but was flushed out of his hiding place in the backyard of a home by a police dog.

David A. King, 20, of Garden Grove was charged with armed robbery and taken to Orange County Jail, where bail was set at $50,000. He was treated at UCI Medical Center for bites inflicted by the police dog and scratches from jumping over fences, authorities said.

King allegedly robbed Jerry Matthews, 21, of Buena Park at gunpoint last Thursday after hitching a ride in Garden Grove and fleeing with the victim’s wallet containing about $320, said Police Sgt. Bruce Beauchamp. On Tuesday, Matthews called Garden Grove police about 4:40 p.m. and said he had just seen the man who robbed him, on Garden Grove Boulevard near the Garden Grove Freeway.

When police arrived and tried to stop King at Trask Avenue and Fairview Street, he fled and one of the officers fired an unknown number of shots at him before he ducked into a residential area. Officers from Tustin, Santa Ana and Orange, with help from a Sheriff’s Department helicopter, searched the area until King was found by the police dog hiding under a bush in a backyard.