PD Gus unscathed after alleged arson attack on SAPOL Dog Operations car

SA Police say officers saw the suspect at Oakden before they did something shocking. And it’s not the first recent case of its kind.

An unknown suspect has allegedly attempted to light a police car on fire with a police dog locked in the back in Adelaide’s northeast suburbs over the weekend.

Just before 10:30pm on Sunday, police were called to Sussex Court at Oakden in response to a disturbance.

While there, SA Police called a Dog Operations patrol to assist, with the officer parking the car on Sussex Court before exiting the police handler exited the car with PD Jax to investigate.

The officer and PD Jax searched the area, while another dog, PD Gus remained on the rear of the car.

PD Gus was unscathed after an alleged attempted arson attack on a Dog Operations car.

Resident Anthon Stone speaking to 7News Adelaide.

Police will allege that about 15 minutes later, the officer noticed a dark figure near the rear of the car, and saw something hit the rear open tailgate and burst into flames.

Police said the officer quickly approached the vehicle and put the fire out, before the fire spread and caused more damage.

PD Gus did not require treatment and was unaffected by the fire.

Resident, Anthony Stone told 7 News Adelaide that police that it was “terrible” and that police were just doing their job.

“Terrible, it’s really horrible that someone would actually do that, especially for police, and that dog as well,” he said.

“They’re just doing their job like, watching the area and I just think it’s terrible.”

Metropolitan Fire Service crews attended and checked the police car, and advised only minor damage was caused and that it was safe to continue driving.

Crime Scene officers attended to examine the car and the scene.

It comes after a similar incident occurred at the nearby suburb of Hillcrest, where a nurse’s car was randomly firebombed by an unknown person in the middle of the night on January 18.

The arson attack left the victim “shaken up”, and was captured on a neighbour’s CCTV.

CCTV showed an unknown person, hidden under the dark of night, throwing liquid on a car before it burst into flames.

Police said it was too early to tell if the cases were linked.

Police are investigating Sunday’s incident and have asked anyone who saw any suspicious activity in the area, has CCTV or dashcam footage or has information that may assist to please contact Crime Stoppers.

Originally published as PD Gus unscathed after alleged arson attack on SAPOL Dog Operations car