K-9 KODY made an arrest for the Garden Grove Police Department Tuesday morning (GGPD photo).

An ax-wielding man met his match Tuesday morning in the form of a Garden Grove Police Department K-9.

The incident began at 9:45 a.m. when officers responded to a report of a man brandishing an ax at 10742 Westminster Avenue. Informed that the suspect was last seen in a Honda Accord, officers were able to find the vehicle moving south on Euclid Street. They received a call that upgraded the encounter to a robbery.

Police attempted a “high risk vehicle stop,” but the suspect didn’t yield and drove into the driveway of a home in Santa Ana.

Patrol units were positioned to block the vehicle and officers gave verbal commands to the man. According to the GGPD, the suspect shifted his car into reverse and it rammed one of the police units and eventually came to a stop nearby.

At that point, the suspect left his vehicle – still ignoring police commands – and then returned to it, reaching into the auto. From there, he began to walk toward the house, where he was hit three times from rounds from a “less lethal” shotgun, “with no effect.”

As officers advanced, three people came out of the building, saying the suspect was now inside. Police were told the suspect was a family member and suffered from schizophrenia.

When attempts to communicate verbally in English and in Vietnamese and by cell phone failed, the police dog Kody was sent in to find and apprehend the man.

The suspect – who was not identified – was taken into custody and transported to a nearby hospital for his injuries. Afterwards, he was booked into Orange County Jail in Santa Ana for robbery and assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer.

Police recovered the ax on the passenger seat of the suspect vehicle.