JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A man who authorities say crashed a stolen car and jumped a fence onto Naval Air Station Jacksonville on Wednesday morning remained hospitalized Thursday for dog bites.
Reuben Carrigg II, 44, was taken to UF Health for treatment after a nearly five-hour search on the naval base, according to a report from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. He is charged with resisting police, leaving the scene of a crash involving property damage, trespassing and attacking a police dog.
Jacksonville police say he was driving a stolen vehicle and got into a crash on Roosevelt Boulevard. He then jumped a barbed wire fence and got onto the base.
Carrigg was wanted in a burglary the day before, police told News4JAX.
More than 120 officers from various agencies, including the Navy, searched for him in a heavily-wooded area.
Video from a Jacksonville-based Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine helicopter, involved in the search, shows police combing through the woods.
WATCH: Aerial video shows authorities track down, capture suspect on Jacksonville naval base
“When I first found out I didn’t know what to think,” said Samantha Martin, who lives on base. “I mean, first thing I thought was an active shooting or something because you never know.”
Police honed in on the suspect, building a perimeter. JSO officers on horseback spotted the man. Police then sent in JSO K-9 Renegade, who they said bit Carrigg several times.
It’s a dangerous scenario, but the horses and K-9s gave officers a huge advantage, even above modern technology, said K-9 handler Matthew Herrera.
“By the end of it, the guy is not going to get found without a dog,” Herrera said. “The dog is one of the biggest tools in law enforcement. Although we’re in modern times, it goes all the way back to the beginning of policing.”
Herrara, who works for a local agency and serves as a board member of K9s United, said the suspect had little chance of getting away.
“If we have a strong perimeter, we can take our time,” he added. “Because we’re either going to find them in the perimeter or we’re going to flush them out because they hear the dog barking.”
While Carrigg was originally held on $125,000 bond, because of his criminal history, when he’s released from the hospital, he will be held without bond in the Duval County jail.
The News4JAX I-TEAM found records show Carrigg has been to prison five times for convictions on charges of aggravated assault on a pregnant woman, stalking, child abuse, burglary car theft and escape. His last sentence was from 2017 to September 2021.