COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. -- Deputies say a Naples man struck a sheriff's office K9 while being arrested in Immokalee on Sunday.
34-year-old Dwayne Croker, Jr. of East Naples is charged with striking a police animal, resisting arrest and possession of narcotic paraphernalia.
According to Collier County Sheriff’s Office arrest reports, deputies conducted a traffic stop on a white Cadillac that ran a stop sign at the intersection of Carver and South Fifth streets around 12:30 a.m.
As Croker, the front-seat passenger, was getting out of the vehicle deputies observed him toss a black object onto the passenger seat. He then took off running, refusing deputies’ orders to stop.
CCSO helicopter pilots spotted Croker from the air. A K9 team apprehended Croker. During the apprehension Croker struck the K9 dog.
Deputies searched the Cadillac and found a small black back pack on the passenger seat matching the description of the item thrown by Croker. A search of the back pack turned up a plastic bag containing a white powdery substance, a scale, numerous clear plastic baggies, used syringes and a small metal spoon with white residue.
A field test on the spoon gave a positive indicator for cocaine. The white powdery substance will be sent to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement lab for testing.
