K9 Szalto – Erlanger, Florida
\nHandler – Officer Dave Lillich<\/p>\n
Erlanger K-9 cop remembered as hero<\/p>\n
Partner. Friend. Hero. That\u2019s how Dave Lillich remembers K-9 officer Szalto. Szalto, 11, died late May, after a stroke. He served in the Erlanger Police Department\u2019s K-9 Unit for about five years before his retirement in July 2013. At work, Lillich was his handler, at home, his best friend. Lillich also retired from the Erlanger department in 2013 and now serves as a sergeant with the Dayton Police Department. \u201cHe was a great partner. When he was at work, Szalto was strictly business,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen he was at home, he was the family pet, you\u2019d never know he was working the streets as a police dog. It\u2019s hard to get used to not having him around.\u201d Szalto assisted in many dangerous apprehensions during his service, but one in particular stands out in Lillich\u2019s mind. \u201cI don\u2019t remember all the facts, but there was a guy in Springfield Township who had assaulted two police officers. He attacked an officer with (the officer\u2019s) Taser. He was captured in Cincinnati, but then escaped.\u201d The escaped prisoner was discovered to have been living in an apartment in Crescent Springs. Lillich got the call one evening to assist the U.S. Marshal in a search at the apartment. \u201cHe couldn\u2019t be found,\u201d Lillich said. \u201cI brought Szalto in and he immediately went to this small mattress that was on the floor. I kept thinking, \u2018there\u2019s no way anyone could be in there.\u2019 But Szalto kept tugging at the mattress. In training, they teach you to trust your dog. So, I lifted the mattress and there was the bad guy. He attacked me. Szalto jumped in. It was a hard fight, the bad guy was kicking Szalto but he kept on him. Szalto really came through for me.\u201d Lt. Mike Lemming, supervisor for Erlanger\u2019s K-9 Unit, said Szalto was a good officer. \u201cHe performed well,\u201d Lemming said. \u201cHe was a very good dog for us. These police dogs are special animals. They\u2019re probably the most valuable tool we have in the department, period, hands down.\u201d According to both Lemming and Lillich, the K-9 officers can do things, sense things, that human officers just can\u2019t do. \u201cA dog can find drugs, the bad guy, anything, they can alert other officers to danger,\u201d Lillich said. \u201cFor example, if we had to search a place like Lowe\u2019s or Home Depot, it would take a few human officers a good 30 minutes to do a search. One dog can do it in five minutes. They are a scarce asset in Kenton County, too. There are only five dogs throughout all the departments.\u201d Lillich said that the Erlanger department was always supportive of the K-9 unit. \u201cThey always ensured the unit had the best training and equipment needed to do the job,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd they miss him too. I have been contacted by many of Erlanger\u2019s officers in regards to Szalto.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
K9 Szalto – Erlanger, Florida Handler – Officer Dave Lillich Erlanger K-9 cop remembered as hero Partner. Friend. Hero. That\u2019s how Dave Lillich remembers K-9 officer Szalto. Szalto, 11, died late May, after a stroke. He served in the Erlanger Police Department\u2019s K-9 Unit for about five years before his retirement in July 2013. At …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1614,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[26],"class_list":["post-1612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-k9memorial","tag-fl"],"yoast_head":"\n