"Bet they gave the dog desk duty after this."
A police dog is being hailed as a hero online for de-escalating a violent situation — by biting his handler.
A viral video shows an apparent K-9 officer angrily detaining a man who appeared to have done very little wrong... and his dog seems to know it.
The video was shot in Panama City Beach, where police are currently struggling with troublemakers who have descended on the coastal Florida hotspot for Spring Break.
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View StoryThe footage does not show what led to the altercation; it shows a female officer placing one bikini-clad woman in handcuffs, while the K-9 handler — whose chevrons suggest he is a sergeant — slowly pursues another.
"You wanna go?" he roars at her, his dog barking, as she backs away into the street.
Another man with his arms raised, who appears to be encouraging the woman to leave the scene, crosses the officer's path — who then quickly turns his attention on him.
The officer grabs him by the neck and violently hip tosses him onto the ground; but his dog seems confused as to who the threat is.
While the K-9 handler tries to hold the "suspect" down on the ground, he is forced to use his other hand to hold the canine off, as he tries to bite the officer:
The dog knew who the real aggressor was pic.twitter.com/RlJR79hOUO
— NoPauseTv (@NoPauseTv) March 29, 2022 @NoPauseTv
"He didn't do nothing!" witnesses shout at the cops, who seem to agree with the dog.
Twitter commenters agreed too.
"GIVE THAT DOG A RAISE," one demanded.
"Bet they gave the dog desk duty after this," another lamented.
"Hopefully this dog doesn't get put down because of this..." worried a third.
"Probably smelled the drugs he was planning on planting on the guy," a fourth joked.
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View StoryTooFab has reached out to law enforcement for comment.
Panama City Beach Police have already arrested 161 people during the Spring Break celebrations, and seized 75 guns so far. They were forced to bring in reinforcements from surrounding cities to deal with the crowds.
Another video posted on TikTok on Monday shows a beach crowd scattering as K-9 units approach:
"The crowd that has been here this weekend, there are no words that can describe the way they have behaved themselves, conducted themselves and the amount of laws they have broken," Panama City Beach Police Chief J.R. Talamantez said during a news conference on Sunday, per AP. "We are doing the best to manage this situation."
A 21-year-old man from Alabama was shot in the foot that day; 6 were arrested and could be charged with attempted murder, NBC15 reported.