Highway 370 Prowler Busted by Union County K9
No one ever imagines to look out the window of their home and see a strange face staring back, but this was a terrifying reality for one Luttrell resident.
In the 400 block of Highway 370 on Monday, January 30, 2017 one Luttrell homeowner peered out the window of their home, only to see the face of a stranger staring back. The unknown male, who was wearing a gray shirt and a black and red ballcap, reportedly fled toward the woods after he noticed someone was looking back.
The homeowner placed the call into Union County E-911 at 4:12 PM. Union County Sheriff’s Deputies Philip King, K9 Sasha, Canaan Blankenship, Andrew Woods, Derrick Rice, and Sgt. Jason Tabor responded to the incident. Deputy King and K9 Sasha were first to arrive on scene followed by Blankenship. King saturated the area before he set up a perimeter and ran a grid of the area that the male had fled in. Sasha quickly picked up on the human scent.
Deputies King, Blankenship and K9 Sasha tracked at least 300 yards before contact was made with the mysterious man. The male was running up the ridge when deputies commanded him several times to stop and get on the ground, but he ignored each one. King warned the male that if he did not follow the commands given that K9 Sasha would be deployed.
The male once again ignored, and Sasha was released. Paws and elbows were flying as the K9 and man were in combat for another 100 yards. K9 Sasha held onto the male’s arm as he held her in a choke hold. At different points in the scuffle, Sasha was struck in the head and hit with a stick before both fell to the ground. He didn’t stop there though.
King gave several commands to the male to stop fighting K9 Sasha. He once again ignored all commands gave by officers and continued to brutalize the service animal by kicking and choking her. In an attempt to stop the male for the safety of the officers, the K9, and the community officers deployed their tazers a total of two times during the fight.
Deputy Blankenship detained the male. He was discovered to be 33- year- old Eric W. Brown of Luttrell. Brown was found to have 2 syringes in his possession. He was transported to the Union County Jail and soon after transported by Union County EMS to an area hospital for evaluation. Brown was not admitted though and returned to the Union County Jail.
Brown is currently still detained in the Union County Jail where he is under a $100,000.00 bond. His charges include Drug Paraphernalia, Criminal Trespassing, Evading Arrest, Resisting Stop Halt Frisk, and Offense Against a Service Animal.
When Brown satisfies his time/sentence here in Union County, he will then take a trip to two other counties where he is also wanted for outstanding warrants. Brown is wanted from Knox County for Failure to Appear on theft charges and Grainger County for Evading by Motor Vehicle.
K9 Sasha was certified just three short months ago, in November. Since then Sasha has conducted 3 live successful tracks, each time the suspect was apprehended. She has also had 4 narcotics findings while on traffic stops.