Thor, the dog, foils robbery at petrol station in Maine
Man's best friend saves the day
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Police in a small town in Maine have released astonishing CCTV of the moment a dog halted an attempted robbery at a petrol station.
Police report the event took place in the afternoon of Monday 9 February, when a lone gunman tried to rob the employee of Holly's Gas on Portland Road in Saco, a town of about 18,000 people in the northeastern United States.
The video shows Justin Ireland's pit bull-boxer mix, Thor, biting the robber's hand as he tries to grab Ireland and then nabbing the would-be thief on both sides of the face. Police released the video - not to show Thor's amazing defence of his owner - but to help generate information about the attacker. Many witnesses have come forward about the car the man was driving.
"We had a couple other people come forward who had seen the vehicle parked on the side of the road,” Deputy Chief Jeffrey Holland told the Portland Press Herald.
According to reports, Ireland at first thought the man approaching his office had covered his face to protect against the cold. Yet he soon pulled out a gun and began shoving Ireland, asking him to put money in a carrier bag. Ireland released Thor, his dog, when the thief began to push him.
The robber ran away as Thor pounced and Ireland followed the man shortly afterwards, although he could not catch the man before he jumped into a different vehicle, a pickup truck.
The suspect is described as a white male, 5ft10in, wearing a navy blue hoodie.
Video courtesy of Saco Police Department.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments