A 24-year-old Anaheim man who allegedly fled from an attempted traffic stop was arrested Wednesday after a fight with a police K-9.
According to Costa Mesa police, an officer conducted a traffic stop for a vehicle code violation at 2:13 a.m. Arthur Barajas Jr. allegedly refused to stop and attempted to evade officers at a slow speed while he handled an item in the vehicle that was hidden from officers’ view.
Police say that item was later determined to be a fully loaded AR-15, abandoned in the front seat of the vehicle after the suspect crashed into a phone pole on Fairview and Wilson and fled on foot.
A perimeter was established and with assistance from an Orange County Sheriff’s Department helicopter and a Huntington Beach police dog, Barajas was found hiding in an apartment patio at the 200 block of Avocado Avenue, police said.
After Barajas refused to surrender, the K-9 was deployed while the suspect continued to fight. Officers then took Barajas into custody, and he was treated by Costa Mesa Fire & Rescue medics and taken to a hospital for treatment of bite marks and a broken arm.
Barajas was booked on suspicion of evading a peace officer with wanton disregard for safety, carrying a stolen firearm, carrying a loaded firearm with a prior felony conviction, probation violation, hit and run by a runaway vehicle with property damage, failure to stop, revocation of PRCS, and obstructing a peace officer.