Law enforcement dog bites suspect as car is searched

A Brunswick County man was treated at the hospital Tuesday after being bitten by a law enforcement dog.

Leland Police stopped a vehicle on Highway 74-76 and found several packets of heroin and a .40-caliber semi automatic handgun in the car.

Police called the Brunswick County K-9 Unit to assist them. They arrested suspect Vincent Hill. While searching the vehicle, the deputy accidentally hit the remote control to release the dog from his car. The dog bit the suspect, leaving abrasions and bite wounds on Hill’s lower abdomen.

“The dog got loose somehow, and started attacking one of them, while he was on the car, getting handcuffed, getting bit,” said witness Lamar Claiborne.

Hill was treated at New Hanover Regional Medical Center and released. He is being held at the Brunswick County Jail, awaiting his first appearance.