Police dog chases down man accused of stealing truck with 2 boys inside

A police dog on Monday chased down a man who is accused of stealing a truck with two boys inside at a south Charlotte convenience store.

The truck was stolen at 5:25 p.m. Sunday from QuikTrip Express on Clanton Road when a man and woman went into the store and left the 2016 Ford F150 running, police said.

A 9-year-old immediately jumped out of the truck and a 13-year-old soon did the same as the truck headed south on South Tryon Street.

Neither boy was hurt by jumping out of the truck.

Police spotted the truck at about 4:20 p.m. Monday on West Boulevard. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police helicopter followed the truck until the driver got out and tried to run away in the 700 block of Rodey Avenue, police said.

Multiple CMPD officers set up a perimeter, and a K-9 team tracked the man. The dog bit the man as police apprehended him.

Police obtained warrants charging 46-year-old Howard Lenzy Watson with larceny of a vehicle, kidnapping, fraud and false pretense, among other offenses.

Watson was being treated at Carolinas Medical Center on Monday night for the dog bite. Once he is released from the hospital, he will be taken to the Mecklenburg County Jail and served with the outstanding warrants, according to police.

Anyone with information is asked to call 911 or Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600.

This story was originally published November 6, 2017 at 10:53 PM with the headline "Police dog chases down man accused of stealing truck with 2 boys inside."