A K-9 officer literally took a bite out of crime and sent a suspect to the hospital on Dec. 19. Officers were searching for Kareem Rashaam Wilson, 35, of Savannah, a possibly robbery suspect.
Around noon on Dec. 19, officers spotted Wilson with a stolen Lexus at a car wash behind a Parker’s at the corner of Pennsylvania and Beech. They awaited backup and, along with Metro K-9s, approached Wilson to arrest him. Wilson tried to flee on foot. Officers caught up with Wilson, who then began to fight.
APO Will Fernandez and his K-9 partner Faust “subdued” Wilson, who was taken into custody and transported to Memorial Hospital to be treated for injuries sustained by Faust. No officers were seriously injured, although Wilson inflicted some injuries to Faust.
The Lexus, stolen last month in Savannah, and other stolen items were recovered by police. Wilson has been charged with two counts of obstruction of an officer, four counts of financial transaction card theft and one count of theft by receiving stolen property — the Lexus. He also has been charged with one count of causing injury to a police dog, a misdemeanor of high degree.
• An officer was called to East 71st and Paulsen streets, where he found a man on the ground near a telephone pole. As the officer approached, the man sat up.
The officer asked the man if he was feeling okay, and after a pause, the man said, “Yes.” When asked if he had been to the hospital recently, the man said he had.
When asked why he was in the hospital, the man replied, “Alcoholism.” The man said he had begun drinking after being released from the hospital, and said he had consumed “about a pint.”
The officer saw a clear plastic bottle three-fourths full with a clear liquid and a label for spring water lying in the gutter next to the man. When asked if the bottle was his, the man said it was.
The officer opened the bottle to check the contents, which smelled of alcohol. The man had a travel bag near him and told the officer he could look through it.
In the largest compartment, the officer found a 750ml bottle of vodka that was nearly empty. The contents of the vodka bottle smelled the same as the contents of the plastic water bottle.
The man said he was waiting for a train to Charleston, and said he eventually was going to go to the train station near Gwinnett Street. He was arrested for public intoxication and having an open container of alcohol.
He had an extremely hard time standing and when he could stand, was very unsteady on his feet. His speech was somewhat slurred and he took an unusually long time to respond to questions. He was taken to the Chatham County Detention Center.
• A woman called police after her son-in-law began removing furniture from her daughter’s Norwood Avenue home. An officer was told there is an order against her son-in-law that forbids him to remove any items from the house.
The man said he had spoken with the sheriff’s department and told them he had to remove his belongings because he was about to be evicted. He said his wife is in jail for violating the same order. The sheriff’s office told the man they couldn’t help him, and said he needed to contact his lawyer. His lawyer advised him to call the police before going to the house, saying it shouldn’t be a problem because his wife is in jail.
The man said he notified 911 about what he was doing. He showed the officer the order, which said he could remove his and his children’s belongings with the assistance of the sheriff’s department. cs
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