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October 07, 2008
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Fla. officer not charged in K-9's death
By Sallie James
Sun-Sentinel FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A police officer whose K-9 dog suffocated inside his unmarked car in August will not be charged, authorities said Monday. The Broward State Attorney's Office said it has declined to prosecute because the officer did not intend for the Aug. 27 death to happen. Assistant State Attorney David Schulson said the officer thought he had taken Hieke, a 9-year-old wire-haired terrier and Labrador mix, to the kennel as he had many times before. When he went to collect Hieke from the kennel and she wasn't there, the officer discovered the dog was still in his police car, Schulson said. The dog had been left inside with the engine off for about four hours, police said. The officer, whose name has not been released because he works undercover, remains on duty. Coral Springs police spokesman Sgt. Joe McHugh said the officer has been a dog handler for 14 years. The case is being reviewed by the department's Internal Affairs unit, McHugh said. The officer "remains tortured to this day by the mental lapse which caused him to leave Hieke in his car when he assumed she was safely in the kennel area where he had left her hundreds of times over the years," the State Attorney's report said. The report said the officer "loved" and did not "abandon" Hieke. It called the death "tragic and accidental." Copyright 2008 Sun-Sentinel
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