Roeland Park police are crediting their new K-9 unit with the speedy apprehension of suspect in a stolen vehicle case over the weekend.

Police say that Rayshod Tramelle Ashton ran from a stolen car in the 4800 block of Skyline Drive on Saturday night. That prompted a call to the city’s K-9 unit, which is made up of Sgt. Cory Honas and Rango the German shepherd. The duo was able to locate Ashton hiding under the lower stairwell of an apartment building within six minutes.

“This was a great catch to keep this career criminal out of our city and a tribute to why we wanted a K9 to serve in Roeland Park,” said Roeland Park Police Chief John Morris.

Ashton was booked into Johnson County Jail and is being held on a $15,000 bond on charges including felony narcotics possession. He’ll make an appearance in Johnson County District Court on Jan. 10.

Roeland Park police initially approached the city council about the idea of adding a K-9 unit to the force in March 2018, saying that they believed it would be a valuable asset in building searches, suspect tracking and drug detection. Previously, Roeland Park would rely other departments, like Leawood, Olathe and Gardner, to provide K-9 unit support — an arrangement that Roeland Park police said was neither cost nor time efficient.