Police: Suspect threw son at dog

Advocate staff report
A suspected robber is accused of throwing his 1½-year-old son at a police dog to stop the dog from chasing him, police said.
On a command from his handler, the dog chased down the suspect, Terell Joseph Green, 20, and did not harm the toddler, police spokesman Cpl. Don Kelly said.

The toddler got a small cut on his lip from hitting the ground, and his mother picked him up from police and took him to the hospital for a complete exam, Kelly said.

Green was bitten by the dog, Rebel, and was treated at Earl K. Long Medical Center before he was jailed.

Green is accused of using a crowbar to hold up a pizza delivery driver in the 4600 block of Y.A. Tittle Avenue, in Tigerland south of LSU, about 9 p.m. Friday, Kelly said.

The delivery driver got the license plate number off the robber's Nissan Maxima getaway car, Kelly said.

About 15 minutes later, the same robber was holding a child when he took a woman's purse in the 4600 block of Alvin Dark Avenue. She struggled with him until he threatened her with the crowbar, Kelly said.

The woman also saw the robber get away in a Nissan.

About 9:45 p.m., Cpl. Joel Pattison spotted the Nissan in the same area but the driver wouldn't pull over. He led police on a pursuit all the way to St. Gabriel, where he lost control of his car and crashed on La. 75. He leapt out of the car and dashed up the Mississippi River levee, Kelly said.

Cpl. Chris Polito released Rebel, and as the suspect neared the top of the levee and saw the dog closing in on him, he threw his child, Kelly said.

When Polito spotted the toddler, he screamed to Rebel to chase the man, whom Rebel captured a short distance away, Kelly said.

Green, 5510 Morris St., Carville, was booked into Parish Prison with two counts of armed robbery and with cruelty to a juvenile, booking records show.

He remained in jail Monday night with bond set at $125,000.

[From The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La, 9 May 2002]