FAIRVIEW, Ore. - If you've ever been the good guy in the wrong place at the wrong time, Trevor Dieringer can relate and has the bite marks to prove it.

The Fairview resident was at home last Friday night when car thieves crashed their stolen vehicle near his home and fled on foot from Gresham police officers, who were in hot pursuit.

One suspect jumped the fence at Dieringer 's residence and made off with his bicycle. Derringer witnessed the theft and took off after the thief.

"We like living on a dead-end street because there is no through traffic … except the occasional bad guy," Dieringer told KATU News.

While running to get his bike back, what Dieringer didn't know was that a Gresham police K9 unit - a German shepherd named Niko - was also after the man on his bicycle.

Instead, the four-legged crime fighter collared Dieringer.

After jumping the same fence as the suspect into Dieringer's backyard, Nico's handler had fallen and lost sight of his charge.
 
"It would be as if a dog was chasing a squirrel and all of the sudden a rabbit comes in his track right in his way," said Sgt. Claudio Grandjean, a Gresham police spokesman. "So the K9 switched and said, 'Here's my prey,' and he took the guy on foot, which unfortunately was the citizen."

Dieringer does not blame the dog that left him with multiple bite marks, scraped skin, 16 stitches and four puncture wounds.

"The dog was doing his job," Dieringer said. "I was in between the bad guy and the dog, and the dog didn't know the difference and he took me down."

The suspects were eventually apprehended by Gresham police, who are also paying Dieringer's medical bills.

Detectives are reviewing some video of the incident and an investigation is continuing.