Police K9 Bane 'doing well' after hit-and-run; search for driver continues

GROTON ― Police K9 Bane is "doing well" and heading home from the hospital Friday afternoon after being struck by a passing car on Pleasant Street earlier this week.

Meanwhile, his colleagues at the Police Department continue to search for the person behind the wheel.

"A member of our team/family is injured, and we wish him a full recovery and hope that he is back at our station begging for treats we aren’t allowed to give him really soon," the department said.

Police received a 911 call from a Groton resident just before 5 p.m. on Wednesday, saying a car in front of them had hit a black lab. The caller, along with two other drivers, stopped to help the dog. The vehicle that hit the dog did not stop; instead the driver continued in the direction of Ayer.

Bane was taken to the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University in North Grafton, where he was treated for severe injuries including a broken femur, dislocated hip, broken ribs and punctured lungs. Friday afternoon, police said Bane was being discharged from the hospital and is headed home to recover with his handler.

"His next hurdle is surgery on his hip which they (doctors at Tufts) think will be done next week," Groton police said in an update late Thursday evening.

Police said they've only identified one of the four good Samaritans who stopped to help Bane, and are hoping the three others come forward so the department can thank them.

The police station is located at 99 Pleasant St., just a short distance from where Bane was struck. Many were quick to ask the department on social media just how the K9 got out in the first place.

"To answer the burning question of a few, sometimes, even highly trained obedient good dogs take off on their owners for unknown and unexpected reasons, zoomies, squirrels, only Bane knows," the department responded on Facebook. "It takes a split second for terrible accidents to happen like what we here at GPD are going through."

Bane joined the department in September 2019.

State Rep. Steve Xiarhos, R-Barnstable, who was the lead sponsor of Nero's Law, weighed in, calling the incident "not just an attack on a police K9 but an affront to our community's safety and values."

"As we fervently hope for Bane's recovery, currently under the expert care of Tufts Animal Hospital, we must also focus our efforts on bringing the individual responsible to justice," Xiarhos said.

Nero's Law was signed by Gov. Charlie Baker in February 2022, and allows police dogs that are injured in the line of duty to be treated and transported to a hospital in an ambulance by EMS. The state is working to train thousands of EMTs in the handling of injured K9s before a February deadline.

The bill was proposed following the death of Yarmouth police Sgt. Sean Gannon in April 2018. Gannon was shot in the head by Thomas Latanowich as police attempted to execute an arrest warrant; Latanowich was convicted of second-degree murder.

Gannon's K9 partner, Nero, was seriously injured but was unable to be treated by EMS on scene due to laws in place at that time.

Authorities are asking anyone who has video or may have been in the area of Pleasant Street at the time of hit-and-run to contact them at (978) 448-5555.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Groton police search for hit-and-run driver who struck K9 Bane