Anthony Romine’s escape from law enforcement custody was cut short on Saturday.
Romine, arrested on July 3 for petty theft, violation of pre-trial release and two counts of counterfeiting, escaped from AdventHealth Palm Coast in Florida where he was being treated while in the custody of the local Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.
Officials now believe Romine had faked his injury in order to get a chance at escaping from the medical facility.
According to local Jacksonville, Florida, outlet WJAX-TV, Romine was discovered hiding in the woods near a gas station roughly seven hours later.
Law enforcement dispatched drones, helicopters and bloodhounds to find Romine, and it was the latter that finally sniffed him out.
Trending:
The hound that found Romine didn’t stop there, however.
According to officials, the dog that found Romine bit him as well.
“All he accomplished was to add additional arrests to his list of crimes and got bitten by our K-9, who gets a special treat for taking ‘a bite out of crime’ when he tried to flee again,” Sheriff Rick Staly said according to WJAX-TV.
Staly added a savage jab: “Fortunately, no one was hurt except this dirtbag who was crying after he was caught by our K-9.”
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office later shared a video of the capture on its official X page.
The K-9, Neo, was not so gentle with the suspect, who could be heard crying and screaming throughout the encounter and subsequent arrest.
It appeared Romine made things worse for himself by attempting to fight off Neo.
“Stop fighting my dog,” the officer guiding the dog can be heard screaming at Romine in the video.
WARNING: The following clip includes imagery that some viewers may find disturbing.
Yesterday, K-9 Neo took a bit out of crime when he tracked and apprehended an inmate who was hiding in the woods.
Let this be a lesson: You can run, but you can’t hide! pic.twitter.com/z8KY35eA3t
— Flagler County Sheriff’s Office (@FlaglerSheriff) July 28, 2024
“Yesterday, K-9 Neo took a bit out of crime when he tracked and apprehended an inmate who was hiding in the woods,” the Sheriff’s Office wrote in its post sharing the video.
“Let this be a lesson: You can run, but you can’t hide!”
