San Joaquin Sheriff's Office will honor fallen K-9 Duke with memorial service
They say dogs are a man’s best friend, but dogs can also be deputies and heroes.
Police dog Duke was a prime example.
The San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office will honor Duke, the police dog stabbed and killed last month while helping Tracy police capture a burglary suspect who had holed himself up inside a small space inside a locomotive.
“Had Duke not been present, the suspect, a law enforcement officer, or both could have been injured and killed in this incident,” said Deputy Nick Goucher, a spokesperson for the sheriff's office.
The incident all started on Feb. 19. Tracy police asked for a police dog to help in the arrest of the suspected thief.
Duke found the man and bit him on the leg.
Moments later, Duke's handler heard the dog “yelp in pain." The dog had been stabbed.
Duke's handler opened the locomotive's door and fired his Taser. Rafael Montoya-Velazquez, 30, surrendered and was arrested, Tracy police said in a statement. Montoya-Velazquez, of Salinas, “was found to be in possession of a large folding knife that was used in the assault against Duke,” Tracy police said.
Duke was bleeding profusely. Duke's handler rushed his K-9 partner to a local veterinary emergency department. He died at the animal hospital.
The police dog was 8 years old and had been with the sheriff's office for six years.
“I have no doubt that Duke’s heroic actions in confronting a dangerous criminal saved lives yesterday, be it the lives of the responding officers or that of the suspect himself,” Tracy Police Chief Sekou Millington said in a statement released the day after the incident.
Montoya-Velazquez faces numerous charges, including willfully harming a police dog with serious injury, burglary and vandalism.
Duke is the second fallen police dog at the sheriff's office. In 2009, K-9 Niko was killed in a friendly fire incident during the apprehension of a wanted felon. He was inadvertently shot by a US Marshal that had been called to the scene.
The end of police dogs?
The sheriff’s office is planning to add two more police dogs to its K-9 team of 10.
While the sheriff's office adds new dogs to its team, though, the office is also awaiting to hear the fate of AB 742.
On Feb. 13, AB 742 was introduced by California assemblymen Corey Jackson and Ash Kalra.
The bill is an effort “to end a deeply racialized and harmful practice that has been a mainstay in America's history of racial bias and violence against Black Americans and people of color."
If the bill passes, law enforcement would be prohibited from using police dogs to help in arrests, apprehensions and crowd control.
“If AB 742 passes, this incident could have easily ended in severe injury or death to either the suspect, a deputy, or both. Apprehension K9's are a vital tool for taking violent suspects into custody," Goucher said. "As proven by this incident, no deputies were injured, and the suspect is recovering from a bite wound. Had Duke not been available, the outcome could have been fatal for the suspect, a deputy, or both.”
Duke's memorial service will be held March 15 at the Robert Cabral Agriculture Center at 2101 E Earhart Ave., in Stockton. Officials will share more details on Facebook when their plans for the service are finalized.
Record reporter Angelaydet Rocha covers community news in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached at arocha@recordnet.com or on Twitter @AngelaydetRocha. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.
This article originally appeared on The Record: Fallen sheriff's K-9 Duke will be honored at memorial
