The Advocate
BATON ROUGE, La. — A Baton Rouge police dog died Friday and his police handler was injured after their patrol car was broadsided.
Philos, an 8-year-old German shepherd who was part of the Baton Rouge Police Department’s K-9 Corps, was taken to a local veterinary hospital where he died from injuries he suffered in the accident, Sgt. Don Kelly, a Baton Rouge Police Department spokesman, said in a news release.
Lt. Robert “Bobby” Glaser, 50, Philos’ handler, suffered moderate injuries, Kelly said. The other driver, Jesse Isiah Farris, 22, 10061 Moss Lea Drive, received minor injuries.
Farris was booked into Parish Prison on counts of first-offense DWI, first-degree vehicular negligent injuring, reckless operation, driving the wrong way on a one-way street and driving with a suspended driver’s license, Kelly said.
The accident occurred when Glaser was driving westbound on Government Street at 1:30 a.m. Friday.
Farris was driving a 2006 Lincoln pickup southbound on St. Charles Street - which was the wrong direction on the one-way street - when the pickup broadsided Glaser’s police unit, Kelly said.
The impact caused Glaser’s Dodge Charger patrol car to roll over, eventually coming to rest on its wheels.
Glaser was removed from the vehicle by rescuers and taken to a local hospital where he is expected to recover from his injuries, Kelly said.
The police lieutenant had returned to work in late June after being shot four times in February by a 16-year-old armed robbery suspect whom Glaser was trying to question. The shooter was later arrested by other Baton Rouge officers.
Philos is the first Baton Rouge Police dog to die in the line of duty in more than 20 years, Kelly said.
Two other dogs died in the 1980s from injuries suffered while they were working, Kelly said.
Brute died in 1988 after being bitten by a brown recluse spider while tracking a robbery suspect. Max was shot to death in 1985 while chasing a car thief.
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