
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, February 26, 1994                   TAG: 9402260122
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Short

MONTGOMERY ARREST TURNS INTO FISTFIGHT

A Montgomery County deputy sheriff was scratched on the neck and cheek and his dog was attacked Thursday morning while the deputy was trying to arrest a Radford man.

The Sheriff's Office gave this account of the incident:

The office received a complaint of a suspicious vehicle in the Virginia 114, Prices Fork Road, area that had turned onto Victoria Lane at high speed.

Deputy J.W. Spooner found the vehicle on a nearby tree farm. The man driving the vehicle approached Spooner and began to question him in a belligerent manner and appeared to be intoxicated.

The man struck Spooner in the chest and was then placed under arrest.

A struggle began and Spooner was scratched while trying to bring the man under control.

Spooner, the county's tracking dog trainer, released his dog, Marko, to assist him.

The man continued to resist arrest and assaulted the dog by grabbing it by the collar and choking it.

Sgt. C.C. Thornton arrived and the two deputies were able to subdue the man.

The Sheriff's Office identified him as Michael R. Dudley, 42.

He was charged with three misdemeanors: assault and battery of a police officer, obstruction of justice and destruction of county property.

Dudley also was charged with attempted malicious wounding of a police animal, which is a felony.

Dudley was being held in the Montgomery County Jail in lieu of $5,000 bond.

by CNB