A man running from police in Northern Virginia tried to hide on Tuesday by diving headfirst into a garbage can that turned out to be full of dirty diapers.

A K-9 sniffed him out and showed officers where to find him.

Keevin Allen was riding in a car near Braddock Road in Fairfax County on Tuesday morning when the driver was pulled over. Allen made a run for it, Fairfax County police say.

In a neighborhood nearby, Catherine Daniel heard a helicopter over her house. Daniel didn't know it, but a criminal suspect was nearby.

Suddenly, she saw a man run toward her house and make a beeline for her rolling, plastic garbage can.

"He flipped it open and just jumped right in, head first," she said.

Before long, a K-9 found Allen. The highly trained dog grabbed Allen's foot, which was poking out of the trash can's lid, police say. Officers ordered Allen to lift the lid and show that he had nothing in his hands.

He was taken into custody without incident, Lt. Dalton Becker said.

It might be lucky for Allen that he wasn't in the garbage can for longer.

"That man dove headfirst into hot, dirty diapers," Daniel said with a laugh.

She sent the police department a letter thanking the officers for treating the suspect professionally and politely.

"Additionally, I had several officers come to the door and apologize for their need to dump the minimal contents of the trash can onto my driveway. ... I was impressed with their professionalism," she wrote.

Police say they found a pound-and-a-half of marijuana in the car Allen ran from.

He had an outstanding warrant for running from a previous traffic stop, according to the department.