Authorities used a police dog to haul a man out from under a resident’s deck in Janesville after he fled cops on suspicion of retail theft.
Janesville police arrested 47-year-old Janesville man Joshua Sokolik on Saturday afternoon on warrants for retail theft and bail jumping, alongside obstructing an officer and trespassing.
Police say Sokolik ran from an officer who tried to detain him on a warrant out of Beloit. He hid under a deck at a nearby residence and refused to come out.
Police sent one of their police dogs, Viktos, under the deck to haul out Sokolik, and then arrested him.
Last week, Beloit police had issued an alert with a security camera photo of Sokolik coming out of a retail store where he is suspected of stealing items.
It was Viktos’ second takedown of a crime suspect in the last week.
Last week, Viktos hunted down a registered sex offender who tore off his GPS monitoring bracelet and hid in some tall grass along the Rock River near downtown Janesville.
