Just as the last minutes of 2013 were ticking away, the phone consoles in the Vacaville Police Department lit up. Several callers reported a mugging was in progress along the 100 block of Peabody Road.
A man later identified as Vacaville resident Robert Hanna, 31, is accused of walking up to a pedestrian and demanding this person’s property. Hanna went on to say that if the victim did not hand over the property, he would kill him. Apparently the victim did not comply quickly enough. Hanna started assaulting him while elaborating on the original threat.
However, Hanna then inadvertently gave the victim an opportunity to escape. As the victim ran away, Hanna fled the scene in a different direction.
Hanna reportedly confronted his victim on busy Peabody Road just before midnight on New Year’s Eve.
When Vacaville PD officers arrived on the scene, witnesses pointed them in the direction which Hanna had taken to make his escape. The officers called in reinforcements to establish a perimeter around a nearby apartment complex where Hanna was likely to be holed up.
When officers spotted Hanna and attempted to contact him, he fled again. As Hanna ran, he dropped a loaded handgun he had had concealed in his clothing.
As Hanna ran on and resisted the human officers’ attempts to subdue him, K-9 officer Kamos was ordered to apprehend Hanna. Officer Kamos lunged and bit the would be mugger on the leg. Hanna fell to the ground and offered no further resistance while Officer Kamos stood guard over him. Human officers caught up and completed the arrest.
Hanna was accurately identified as the perpetrator of the attempted mugging. After being taken to a local hospital to get the canine bite treated, Hanna was lodged in the Solano County Jail.
Ironically, Robert Hanna was arrested in 2009 after releasing a large dog, a pitbull or bulldog, who attacked police. After they shot at it, his dog escaped, but Hanna was arrested for threatening people with a handgun.
Read More:
The Reporter: Vacaville canine officer takes down suspect
KGO (2009): Two busted on weapon charge
