Deputy’s dog bites man in car trunk in Spokane Valley

Deputies used a police dog to apprehend a man who refused to get out of a car trunk early Monday in Spokane Valley, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

The encounter began at about 2:30 a.m. when Deputy Thomas Walton pulled over a red sedan with no front or rear license plates on Broadway Avenue a few blocks east of Pines Road, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.

The woman driving the car was crying and visibly shaking and said she was upset because she had been arguing with friends, the sheriff’s office said. Walton learned her driver’s license was suspended and she had a restraining order against her husband, 27-year-old Harley L. Shaw.

Walton later learned Shaw was hiding in the trunk, and that Shaw had crawled through the back seat when he noticed the patrol car, the sheriff’s office said. Shaw was wanted on two misdemeanor warrants – one for fourth-degree assault and one for violating the protection order, the sheriff’s office said.

More deputies were called to the scene, including Deputy Tyler Kullman and his police dog, Khan.

For 45 minutes, they repeatedly ordered Shaw to get out of the trunk and warned him that Khan would be deployed if he didn’t surrender, but Shaw gave no response, the sheriff’s office said. When they tried to open the trunk, Shaw seemed to be holding it closed, the sheriff’s office said.

When deputies finally opened the hatch, Shaw remained defiant, and deputies could not see his hands in the trunk, which was full of clothes and bags, the sheriff’s office said. Kullman released Khan, and the dog bit Shaw while deputies subdued him.

Shaw was treated at a hospital and then booked into the Spokane County Jail. In addition to his warrants, Shaw faces new charges of fourth-degree assault, resisting arrest, obstructing police and a felony count of violating a protection order, the sheriff’s office said.

Shaw’s wife was released from the scene without charges.