HOQUIAM, Wash. -- A Hoquiam police officer and his police service dog are recovering after falling down a steep embankment while searching for a car thief early Friday morning.

Hoquiam police Sgt. Jeff Salstrom and his service dog, Enno, fell about 15 feet down an embankment near Cannon Street above the 2300 block of West Fifth Street. Salstrom and Enno were taken to the hospital and veterinarian clinic for treatment of serious injuries and are expected to recover, Hoquiam police said.

Aberdeen and Hoquiam police were alerted to the car theft after an officer saw a black sedan being chased by a white pickup truck on Aberdeen Avenue. The driver of the pickup truck told the officer that the black sedan was his mother's and he was pursuing it after he saw someone taking it.

Police later found the car abandoned in the 900 block of Anderson Drive. Several hours later, Aberdeen police arrested a man who was found hiding in brush near the area where the car was found.

The man is being investigated for the car theft is being held at the Aberdeen City Jail on a drug charge.