Manuel Garcia {BSO
By Ryan Yousefi
A man has been arrested following his attempt to flee from the police on a bicycle and subsequent assault on a K9 officer during the apprehension.
On October 22, an officer from the Coconut Creek Police Department on a routine patrol spotted a man, later identified as Manuel Luciano Garcia, 35, of Coconut Creek, riding a bicycle along State Road 441 and Johnson Road without any lighting equipment on his bike.
According to the arrest report, Garcia noticed the officers and immediately reacted by taking evasive maneuvers to evade them. Officers began to follow Garcia in marked patrol units with lights and sirens activated, making it clear that he was a law enforcement officer.
Despite repeated commands to stop, records show Garcia refused to comply and fled the area. At that time, Garcia managed to elude capture, and officers lost sight of him.
Approximately 43 minutes later, officers again encountered Garcia riding his bicycle, this time on Johnson Road. Officers again activated their emergency lights and sirens in another attempt to stop Garcia, but once again, Garcia refused to obey the officer’s commands and continued to flee.
At one point, the report shows that Garcia even rode his bicycle onto State Road 7, cutting across traffic lanes in the opposite direction, causing chaos as cars sped by.
The report shows that Garcia’s escape took him to Parkland, inside a wooded area leading to Bell Apartments at 5851 Holmberg Road. As officers continued their pursuit, they were notified that Garcia was on felony probation related to a Grand Theft case.
In addition, Garcia also had a previous run-in with the Coral Springs Department in July, in which he was charged with battery on a law enforcement officer, trespassing, and resisting arrest.
A condition of his probation was to avoid any new law violations, which he actively violated by resisting law enforcement officers.
Police initiated a K9 track with his police dog partner, Noble, from the last point where Garcia was spotted. Noble successfully tracked down Garcia, who was hiding in a wooded area in the southeast corner of the Bell Apartments complex.
CCPD officers repeatedly ordered Garcia to stop and get on the ground, but he continued to resist and attempted to flee on his bicycle. As K9 engaged Garcia, he intentionally kicked him in the face multiple times to prevent the police dog from apprehending him.
The ordeal finally came to an end when Garcia fell off his bicycle and was subsequently physically apprehended by the K9.
Even while on the ground, Garcia continued to resist arrest, but he was eventually subdued and taken into custody.
Garcia was arrested and transported to the Broward County Main Jail.
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