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Handler – Officer Morton
Pataskala PD mourning loss of K-9 Officer Junior
Junior and Morton previously worked for the Licking County Sheriff’s Office, Pataskala Police Chief Bruce Brooks said. Morton retired, but joined the Pataskala department part time about five years ago. “Junior still had a lot of life left in him, and well, so did Randy. He didn’t want to quite give it up yet.” Brooks said. Morton and Junior would work the opposite days of Pataskala’s other K-9 officer, Scott McClellan, and his dog, Joker. Junior had gone out with Pataskala officers for their “Shop with a Cop” event Dec. 18. “He always comes out and enjoys that and hanging with the kids,” Brooks said. Because of his age, Junior mostly worked drug cases. A few weeks ago, Junior did drug sweeps at Licking Heights Middle and High schools. “He was slowing down a little bit but still liked coming to work and hanging out with Randy,” Brooks said. Junior would also attend department events and visit schools, Brooks said. The department has not decided if there will be a police memorial service for Junior and is leaving that up to Morton. Because of the unexpected nature of Junior’s death, the department is giving Morton and his family some time to decide what they would like. Brooks said it still has Joker, but he is now the department’s only K-9 officer. Another K-9 officer will likely be obtained in the future, but the timeline has not been determined. “Everybody’s still kind of hurting and in shock,” Brooks said. “We’ll get through this and go from there.”
