Portland Police's First Female Canine Nabs Suspect, Recovers Bike

PORTLAND, OR – Take a good look at the dog in the picture. She is a good girl.

She is Utzi and, on Friday, helped make a child smile and make a man less than happy.

It was just before 6 p.m. when officers from the North Precinct responded to a report that someone stole a child's bicycle from their front lawn on the 5500 block of Northeast Simpson Street. Get all the latest information on what's happening in your community by signing up for Patch's newsletters and breaking news alerts.

Officers were told that older kids had seen the man grab the bike from the front of the house, ran after him, asking him to return the bike.

The man kept walking.

The kids told the officers that the man may have gotten on a TriMet bus with the bicycle.

Officers were able to figure out which bus he was on, saw the child's bike on the bus's bike rack, and stopped the bus. The man, seeing the officers, fled despite being told not to do that.

With the help of Utzi, the officers found the man – since identified as 20-year-old Amissi Hugu Mungoma – hiding in thick bushes. They took him into custody without incident. He's charged with theft and attempting to elude.

Portland Police say that Utzi is the first female member of the bureau's canine unit. She is a 4-year-old German Shepherd who was purchased from someone in Denver, Colorado. She's been certified to work patrol since Oct. 2014 and works with Sgt. Jason Preston.

Photo via Portland Police.