New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
Early Thursday morning Rutland Police requested a Massachusetts State Police K9 unit to assist in the search for a suspect who fled on foot from a motor vehicle crash. The suspect, a male teenager, crashed at the intersection of Pleasantdale Road and Main Street around 2:40 a.m., a short time after nearly striking a Rutland cruiser with the motor vehicle he was driving.
MSP K9 Section Trooper Kyle Kilimonis and his partner Boomah responded to assist. Trooper Kilimonis deployed Boomah from the crashed vehicle. Boomah acquired a scent and tracked to the rear of a Main Street house, where he, Trooper Kilimonis, and a Rutland Officer came up to a fenced-in goat farm.
The search team negotiated its way past the goats and tracked an approximate half-mile into woods behind the house. After the team found a discarded sweatshirt with fresh blood on it, Boomah circled around thick woods and a swamp.
The track eventually led back out to Main Street, east of the crash site, and Boomah eventually led the Trooper and Officer into the backyard of a house on Kenwood Drive, near the intersection with Main, where the dog exhibited an alert. In the backyard was a shed; Trooper Kilimonis noticed the shed door was open a crack.
Trooper Kilimonis announced the presence of the K9, and then the team entered the shed. Once inside, Boomah continued to alert and bark, and Trooper Kilimonis again announced their presence.
Boomah made his way to a far corner of the shed and located and apprehended the suspect, who was curled up in a ball on the floor. The suspect, a 17-year-old male, was taken into custody and transported to UMass-Lakeside Hospital in Worcester for examination. He will face charges to include using a motor vehicle without authority, failure to stop for police, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, leaving the scene of a crash, and breaking and entering.
