Two suspects accused of stealing cars in rural Mower County were arrested Thursday night after a four-hour search and multiple witness reports.

Mower County Sheriff Terese Amazi said a 22-year-old Stewartville man and a 20-year-old Sergeant woman were taken into custody. According to Amazi, a man called police at about 3:30 p.m. Thursday as he followed a car he owned, which the suspects allegedly stole from his property east of Sargeant.

Deputies were confounded at first as multiple witnesses reported the suspects driving in different vehicles. Police finally caught up with the 20-year-old between 5 and 6 p.m. when witnesses followed her to her home in Sergeant.

Deputies were called to a cornfield in the Sergeant area after one witness told police the 22-year-old had jumped out of a stolen vehicle he drove into a ditch, ran across the cornfield and through a grove of trees.

Deputies, State Patrol and a K-9 unit cordoned off the area and found the suspect hiding in the upper level of a shed after a four-hour search.

Amazi said the suspect refused to get out of the shed at first, which prompted officers to warn him they would send in Sonic the police dog. Sonic was sent in and bit the suspect’s foot, according to Amazi. The 22-year-old was taken to Mayo Clinic Health System in Austin and treated for his wounds before he was taken to the Mower County jail. Deputies believe both suspects were under the influence of drugs.

Amazi said the suspects stole at least three cars, all of which were found in ditches in the Sergeant area. All of the affected owners had left car keys in their vehicles, and Amazi said several car owners told police they didn’t report their vehicles stolen because they later found them.

Amazi encouraged residents to not leave their car keys inside unlocked vehicles and to report stolen cars as soon as possible.

“You never know who’s going to come,” Amazi said. “This is what happens.”