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In
Loving Memory of
K-9 RECON
March
17, 1998
Handler:
Jim Gibson
Snohomish County
Sheriff's Office
3000 Rockefeller,
M/S 606
4th Floor, Courthouse
Everett, Washington 98201
(425)388-3393
Moments after
capturing an alleged drug dealer who tried to flee authorities Tuesday
night, a Snohomish County Sheriff's K-9 dog wandered into freeway
traffic and was struck and killed. Now deputies are trying to determine
if the suspect they arrested hurt the 3-year-old German shepherd named
Recon, causing the dog to become confused. The incident happened
between 6:30 and 7:30 p.m. on I-5 near 44th Street in Lynnwood. Recon
and his handler, sheriff's deputy Jim Gibson, were assisting the
Snohomish Regional Narcotics Task Force in a drug bust at a nearby
park-and-ride lot when the suspect broke loose. The suspect, an Alaska
man, ran off, climbed a 7-foot fence and crossed six lanes of freeway
traffic, before the dog was able to catch and stop him. Gibson, arrived
a short time later and called the 3-year-old dog away from the man.
"(Recon) just looked like he was dazed ... like I've never seen him
before," Gibson said, adding he thinks his partner may have been choked
before roaming into traffic. "It's like losing a son," Gibson said of
the dog, who had lived with his family for more than a year. It's also
like losing a deputy, Sheriff Rick Bart said. "In every way I considered
Recon one of my deputies. I will aggressively look for a charge against
this man, if he assaulted my deputy." It is a felony to assault a law
enforcement officer -- that includes a police dog. The woman driver who
struck Recon is very upset too, Bart said. She was driving at normal
freeway speeds, but there was nothing she could have done to avoid the
accident, he said, adding he's glad she wasn't injured. The suspect was
treated at Stevens Hospital in Edmonds for minor dog bite wounds and
booked into the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of delivery of a
controlled substance and several outstanding warrants, said sheriff's
Lt. Dan Howard. Authorities confiscated approximately 1 kilo of cocaine.
The suspect allegedly flew in from Alaska to make the delivery at the
park-and-ride lot, where he was met by authorities, Howard said. |
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Memorials
to Fallen K-9s