Police dog gets his man - and bites him

A police canine unit responding to a burglary-in-progress at a Presbyterian Church in New Hyde Park tracked down the suspected burglar in a second-floor classroom of the attached school.

When Thunder, the police dog, found Benjamin Wiener, the suspect, Thunder bit Wiener in the left leg during a brief struggle, Nassau police said Monday.

Wiener, 22, of 952 North 5th St., New Hyde Park, was arrested just after midnight Monday, police said.

The call was received at 11:40 p.m. Sunday reporting the burglary at the Christian Education Building of the First Presbyterian Church of New Hyde Park, 16 South 9th St.

A search of the building by the canine unit turned up Wiener hiding in a second-floor classroom, where he was bitten by Thunder, police said. He was treated for the dog bite at an area hospital and then was taken to the Third Precinct, where he was arrested.

Wiener was charged with third-degree burglary and is scheduled to be arraigned Monday in First District Court in Hempstead, police said.