BUENA VISTA TWP. — Police here said they arrested an 18-year-old man Thursday night for barking at the police dog Zeus, a German shepherd assisting its partner, Officer Jeff LaLonde, during a traffic stop outside a liquor store.

The suspect, a Buena Vista Township man, was walking past the scene at Hess and Dixie about 8 p.m. on St. Patrick's Day, where a Buena Vista Police Department patrol vehicle’s front bumper was facing the front bumper of the stopped vehicle, according to department Sgt. Sean Waterman.

Officer LaLonde was seated in his patrol unit filling out paperwork associated with the stop, while Zeus was in his customary position in the back seat behind the officer, with the vehicle’s rear window rolled down, police said.

At that point, Waterman reports, the suspect walked past “and decided to start barking at the dog.” At the time, Zeus was “standing at alert and focused on the stopped vehicle and its driver, as the dog is commanded to do,” Waterman said.

Waterman noted “It’s against the law for someone to do anything, when the dog in service, that harasses the dog and takes the dog off its task.”

Police arrested the suspect and took him to the Saginaw County Jail. He has not been arraigned in court yet on criminal charges, but state law makes it a misdemeanor to intentionally harass or interfere with a police dog performing its duties.

If convicted of such harassment, a person faces up to one year in jail and a $5,000 fine.

Besides sniffing out narcotics, Zeus also has tracking duties and public relations responsibilities that include school presentations.