LAKEVIEW — If K-9 deputy Grizzly wore a belt, he would be able to add another notch to it, as the four-legged deputy and his handler helped nab a kidnapping suspect in the Lakeview community early Thursday morning.

About 9:45 p.m. Wednesday night Matthew Proper, 25, of Soap Lake, allegedly grabbed a woman, whom he had previously been in a relationship with, by the arm and neck as she was leaving a residence on Soap Lake Way in Lakeview, according to the Grant County Sheriff’s Office.

The woman was able to ward off Proper and locked herself inside the Soap Lake Way residence. Proper fled the area on foot before Soap Lake police officers and deputies arrived. He was not found in the area.

Shortly after midnight, Proper allegedly threatened his ex-girlfriend and her friend with a hatchet after they returned from a store. The women attempted to drive away, but Proper allegedly broke a window in the car they were in and grabbed the steering wheel, causing the vehicle to crash into a ditch. Proper forced his ex-girlfriend out of the vehicle and made her walk with him to an outbuilding on Othello Place.

“The victim’s friend followed on foot in order to watch out for her friend,” stated the sheriff's office in a release.

K-9 deputy Grizzly and his handler, deputy Dave De La Rosa, arrived at the scene a little while later and the two women left the outbuilding. Proper was found hiding in an attic in the building by Grizzly and deputies. Proper was booked into the Grant County Jail on suspicion of kidnapping and fourth-degree assault (domestic violence).