Rex, Non-Sexist Police Dog, Sniffs Out His Man

Santa Ana police dog Rex got his man Thursday. Or was it a woman?

The incident began about 9 a.m. when a patrolman spotted a suspect from a Feb. 1 robbery driving outside a check-cashing store. The suspect slowly pulled over and stopped. Suddenly, he jumped from the car and ran, disappearing in the back yards of homes along the 2300 block of South Olive Street.

Maureen Thomas, a Santa Ana Police Department spokesperson, said the suspect ran to his home at 2306 S. Olive St.

Officers called for police dogs, but the suspect slipped out the back of his house and made his way through yards until he reached 2302 S. Olive. There he broke a window and went in, where he was spotted by officers and their dogs.

Shortly afterwards, police spotted a person dressed in a blouse, skirt and panty hose leave through the back door.

Officers might had been fooled for a second, but not Rex, who cornered the suspect in a nearby back yard.

Police arrested Jaime R. Perez, 18. He was treated at UCI Medical Center in Orange for bites on both arms.

Police booked Perez on suspicion of strong-arm robbery in the Feb. 1 incident. Officers alleged Perez approached a woman outside the ABC Check Cashing store on South Grand Avenue in Santa Ana, shoved her against a car and took $1,500 from her. He also was booked on suspicion of resisting arrest Thursday.

Rex, who has been on the police force for 2 years, suffered a paw injury, but Thomas said he was doing fine.