Coward ran.
Van Michael Coward, 22, was arrested and charged with burglary of a business, larceny and resisting arrest without violence.
At 5:02 a.m. Thursday, two Gainesville Police Department officers were sent to White Apron Catering, 2201 N.E. 2nd St., where a store alarm was triggered. When they arrived they heard noises coming from inside the building, the GPD arrest report stated.
When the officers tried to approach Coward, he ran across Northeast Second Street.
He did not obey when the officers told him to stop, so K-9 officer Charles Owens sent his police dog to catch him, said GPD spokesman Keith Kameg.
According to the report, after he was caught by the dog, Coward was taken to North Florida Regional Hospital for minor injuries due to dog bites.
Coward took about $550 worth of food and table linens from White Apron Catering, the report stated. He told police he was sleeping in a shed on the business' property for the past two nights and went inside because he was cold.
