Dog sprints into armored SWAT vehicle during drug bust

JENSEN BEACH, Fla. — A SWAT team’s tense confrontation during a drug bust in South Florida took a lighter turn when a dog bolted from the front door of a residence and sprinted into the back of an armored vehicle, authorities said.

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In a Facebook post, the Martin County Sheriff’s Office said that the SWAT team had executed a search warrant in Jensen Beach during the early hours of Nov. 21.

That is when a dog named Bear bolted from the mobile home at 251 NE Vine St., sprinted past detectives and jumped into the sheriff’s office’s vehicle -- an armored BearCat, WPEC-TV reported.

“With every search warrant, you usually have a runner,” the sheriff’s office wrote on Facebook. “But this time, the runner seemed like he was more interested in jumping to the law enforcement side while a house full of suspects were being arrested.”

According to the sheriff’s office, five people were arrested: Cathy Glad, 62, David Burdge, 64, Trevontay Daniels, 40, Antonio Giles, 38 and Ariella Messina, 27.

Deputies said that Daniels, who was the main target in the search, had allegedly been driving from West Palm Beach to Stuart to sell narcotics, WPEC reported. According to the sheriff’s office, deputies recovered cocaine, brass knuckles, crystal methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia from the residence, according to the television station.

As for Bear, he was content to sit in the back of the SWAT vehicle and watch events unfold.

“The dog sought refuge in the SWAT vehicle and patiently waited until it was all over,” Martin County Sheriff William Snyder told WPEC. “I think Bear had all he could ‘bear’ on that case and was glad to be in police hands.”

The suspects in this case face multiple charges, the sheriff’s office said.

Jensen Beach is 133 miles southeast of Orlando and 240 miles south of Jacksonville.