Shoplifting Suspect Arrested After Running Onto Freeway, Struggling with Officers and Being Bitten by Police Dog

A man spotted stealing from an OfficeMax display case Sunday afternoon tried to elude officers by running onto Interstate 680, but gave up after a police search, a brief struggle with officers and being bitten by a police dog.

Leroy Black III, 30, of Fairfield was booked into County Jail after being treated at a nearby hospital for the bite on his arm, said Sgt. Steve Gorski. One Walnut Creek police officer also was treated at a nearby hospital for minor injuries from the struggle with the suspect.

The incident that led to Black's arrest occurred about 2 p.m Sunday when  employees at the North Main Street OfficeMax saw someone take items from a display area and leave the store without paying. Employees told police that the thief was the same person they had seen acting suspiciously in the store Saturday and who left when confronted.

After receiving the report about Sunday's theft, a Walnut Creek police officer spotted the suspect, later identified as Black, on the freeway overpass at North Main Street and Penniman Way. Black ran onto the northbound lands of Interstate 680 when the officer tried to stop him, Gorski said. 

Black ran south on the freeway shoulder before jumping over a fence that landed him in the condominium complex near the Marriott Hotel. Police set up a perimeter and searched the area with a police K9.

 When officers found Black 30 minutes later in a stairwell, he tried to run again,  Gorski said. Black struggled with officers, at which point a K9 officer unleashed his dog. Black gave up after being bitten.

Black was arrested on suspicion of burglary, possession of stolen property and resisting arrest, Gorski said.