JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- One of Jacksonville's finest on four legs recently had a close call while on the job. Police said one of their K-9 officers was nearly drowned by a fleeing suspect when the dog chased the handcuffed man into a lake.

Turbo, a 7-year-old German Sheppard and member of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, has his own badge. Officers Chip Williams works with Turbo day and night and said the K-9 officer an asset to the force.

"The sense of smell is 10 times, 100 times, 1,000 times stronger than ours, so we utilize his senses to find people," Williams said.

Those senses came in handy Sunday night, when officers spent six hours trying to capture Antwann Johnson. Police said Johnson managed to escape from a squad car after being arrested. They said the suspect jumped into a retention pond and kept officers at bay for hours.

Williams was a part of the team charged to search for Johnson. He said officers came close to catching Johnson once, but it wasn't until a second time that Turbo caught the suspect's scent.

"Turbo became very animated and let me know of the suspect's presence. He continued to jump into the water," Williams said.

The officer said Turbo then went after Johnson in the water, and that's where the K-9 got into some trouble.

Williams said the suspect grabbed Turbo and tried submerge the dog under water to drown him.

"At that point, I realized we had a serious situation," Williams said.

Williams said Johnson grabbed both sides of Turbo's neck and tried to drag him down, but the officer was holding onto the dog's leash and wasn't going to let go of Turbo.

"My main concern was getting Turbo up, out of the water, and getting the suspect at a disadvantage again and at least let Turbo have an opportunity to apprehend the suspect," Williams said.

After a short struggle, Williams said members of the dive team eventually captured Johnson. He said the arrest was truly a team effort, and his dog Turbo played a big part.

"Me personally, I think he performed flawlessly," Williams said.

Johnson was booked into the Duval County Jail Monday morning. He is facing charges including possession of heroin and cocaine, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and battery on a law enforcement officer. He was ordered held on $300,000 bond.