Sheriff’s deputy restarts man’s heart
A Porter County Sheriff’s Deputy is being credited with saving the life of an 81-year-old man who collapsed while talking to the deputy.
Sgt. Timothy Emmons was talking with Keith Lakin about trespassers on Lakin’s rural property near Chesterton Friday night when Lakin collapsed.
Emmons performed CPR and used a portable defibrillator to restart Lakin’s heart.
Lakin was taken to Porter hospital in Valparaiso. Emmons says he was able to meet with Lakin’s family at the hospital and was told the man had regained consciousness and was in fair condition.
A nursing supervisor said Lakin was not listed as a patient at the hospital Wednesday morning.
Late trooper’s friends, family lobby for death benefits
Family, friends and co-workers of a late Maryland State Police trooper will be visiting state delegates today to advocate for two bills.
The bills were proposed in response to the death of 1st Sgt. Tobin Triebel, a New Market resident, who was struck and killed by a truck while jogging on the side of the road in North Carolina. The bills have passed the Senate but appear stalled in the House Appropriations Committee.
Courtesy Photo 1st Sgt. Tobin Triebel, a New Market resident, was struck and killed by a truck while jogging on the side of the road in North Carolina.
Sen. Alex Mooney, a Republican who represents Frederick and used to play rugby with Triebel, sponsored the bills.
One would allow the superintendent of state police to award line-of-duty death benefits on a case-by-case basis for those killed while exercising. The other would increase the amount of optional life insurance offered to state employees whose work includes riding in helicopters or scuba diving.
The bills have passed the Senate, but won’t come before the House unless the committee approves them.
“We’re working on it,” said Delegate Norman Conway, chairman of the Appropriations Committee.
He said the committee would discuss a modified proposal today.
Delegate Galen Clagett, a Frederick Democrat who serves on the committee, said he had not heard anything about the modified proposal.
He said the committee would likely ensure the family of Triebel will benefit from the bill, no matter how it changes.
“I don’t think that part will be modified,” Clagett said.
The family of a state trooper is entitled to $185,000 in death and funeral benefits if the trooper dies in the line of duty.
The law would retroactively give Triebel’s family death benefits. His death was not considered in the line of duty under state law.
Triebel’s wife and two daughters testified in favor of the bills. The benefits would help them as they make the transition to life without their primary breadwinner, they said.
Visitors will include Ted Triebel, Tobin’s father. He served in the Navy and said he always understood the country would provide for his family if he died.
He said that his son deserved the same.
Steve Schleupner played rugby with Triebel and planned to visit Annapolis today as well. Triebel saved countless lives, he said, including the life of a young soccer player while Triebel was off duty. Triebel served as a flight paramedic and needed to stay in shape to lift people in and out of helicopters.
“I think the state citizens owe him and the family and other troopers some gratitude for that sacrifice they make,” Schleupner said.
Mooney spent much of Tuesday lobbying delegates for the bill. He said firefighters already get line-of-duty death benefits if they die while exercising because they are allowed time to exercise while at work.
He also said the state budget includes $1 million to buy aquarium and other tickets. If the state has money for that, it should also have money to benefit troopers who die training for duty.
Mooney said Conway is sponsoring a bill that would expand death benefits to include emergency response teams for the Department of the Environment, which would cost about $138,000, according to the Department of Legislative Services.
“Taking care of surviving spouses and children of fallen law enforcement officers is one of the most important things we can do down here,” Mooney said.
Oregon cops make lost peacock feel most wanted
The sheriff’s office in Marion County, Oregon, has dealt with countless lost items in the past. This one is a little more special than most.
That lost item is a female Indian peacock, properly called a peahen. But to the sheriff’s deputies, she’s just Cynthia.
Why Cynthia?
“He [Sheriff Russ Isham] named her that because she looks like a Cynthia and he decided that she needed a name,” said Lt. Sheila Lorance, a sheriff’s office spokeswoman in the northwestern Oregon county.
Cynthia showed up Saturday on the property next to the sheriff’s office and has spent most of her time eating bugs, drinking water from a nearby well and keeping watch over the department, Lorance said.
Officers initially asked several animal welfare agencies to take the bird, because she’s an exotic animal and likely someone’s pet. But each of the agencies refused to help.
Cynthia has been the focus of stories in the local newspaper and on television newscasts. Someone even showed up to drop off water for her.
“We’ve been asking for anyone who knows the owner, but haven’t had any luck. We have had two people call up wanting to adopt her,” Lorance said.
In the short term, Cynthia has become a mascot for the police department. She spends her time camped outside the office, keeping an eye on things. The department would like to return Cynthia to her rightful owner, but for now it is content with having her nearby.
“I’d love to keep her,” Lorance said. “I’d love to have her as a mascot, but the groundskeepers probably wouldn’t appreciate having to clean up after her.”
Drug money to cover K-9 program costs
Argentine Twp—The Board of Trustees unanimously approved Police Chief Daniel Allen’s request Monday to use approximately $7,000 of drug forfeiture money to beef up its K-9 program. The money will be used to convert a police vehicle over to accommodate the department’s K-9 department and provide certification training.
The police department has two part-time K-9 officers, Doug Fulton and John Gifford. Fulton and his canine partner “Dewey,” a German shepherd, have been together since 2004. Gifford’s canine partner is, “Ken.”
Allen said, between the two officers’ schedules, it should give the township between 16 to 18 days per month of K-9 coverage, on a rotating basis. The chief said this rotating schedule would prevent suspected drug dealers from seeing any distinguishable pattern of when the units are working. He also said the officers are already making seizures and forfeitures without the K-9 program, however, this program is meant to increase those numbers.
Insurance and converting one of the department’s existing Tahoes over is expected to cost approximately $4,200, and two years of certification training is expected to cost $2,740, according to the Allen.
Allen said this would be a pilot program, and this K-9 unit must show results or else it would not continue.
When asked what advantage the K-9 program will provide to the township, Allen said that the scenting ability of humans is not very highly developed. He said people have an estimated 5 million cells used for smelling in a very small area at the back of the nose.
In comparison, dogs have scent cells spread all over a large area and have an estimated 125- to 220-million scent cells, depending on the size of the dog.
“They can use each nostril independently and are good at distinguishing one odor from another, and remembering it,” said Allen. “The part of the brain that receives messages from the nerves of the nose is highly developed and can store up scent information like a computer.
“Given this ability, the use of K-9 in drug enforcement is a huge asset to a department that runs a tightly monitored program.”
Closed Delaware Hotel serves as K-9 training ground
Although the condemned Delaware Hotel is closed to guests, area police are finding a use for it.
On Tuesday, K-9 officers from the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office and Delaware City and Dublin Police, accompanied by their human partners, practiced searching for drugs on the building’s second floor.
Thor, a black-and-brown German Shepherd, rummaged through a room for the hidden contraband. He sniffed the television console, bed and desk.
“Where is it boy?” Sgt. Larry Dore asked. “You smell it?”
Thor began barking and scratching at an air-conditioning unit in the corner of the room.
“Good boy,” Dore said, patting Thor before handing him a worn rubber toy used as a reward and training tool.
Deputies converted heroin, hashish, cocaine and methamphetamine from the sheriff’s office evidence room for use in the training.
The hotel’s caretakers agreed to allow police, who are always looking for new locations to train their dogs, use the site for training. Police make efforts to expose dogs to different environments so they can perform more effectively in field work.
Because of the unpredictability the field, variety is crucial in all aspects of training, Dublin By ANDREW TOBIAS
Staff Writer
Although the condemned Delaware Hotel is closed to guests, area police are finding a use for it.
On Tuesday, K-9 officers from the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office and Delaware City and Dublin Police, accompanied by their human partners, practiced searching for drugs on the building’s second floor.
Thor, a black-and-brown German Shepherd, rummaged through a room for the hidden contraband. He sniffed the television console, bed and desk.
“Where is it boy?” Sgt. Larry Dore asked. “You smell it?”
Thor began barking and scratching at an air-conditioning unit in the corner of the room.
“Good boy,” Dore said, patting Thor before handing him a worn rubber toy used as a reward and training tool.
Deputies converted heroin, hashish, cocaine and methamphetamine from the sheriff’s office evidence room for use in the training.
The hotel’s caretakers agreed to allow police, who are always looking for new locations to train their dogs, use the site for training. Police make efforts to expose dogs to different environments so they can perform more effectively in field work.
Because of the unpredictability the field, variety is crucial in all aspects of training, Dublin By ANDREW TOBIAS
Staff Writer
Although the condemned Delaware Hotel is closed to guests, area police are finding a use for it.
On Tuesday, K-9 officers from the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office and Delaware City and Dublin Police, accompanied by their human partners, practiced searching for drugs on the building’s second floor.
Thor, a black-and-brown German Shepherd, rummaged through a room for the hidden contraband. He sniffed the television console, bed and desk.
“Where is it boy?” Sgt. Larry Dore asked. “You smell it?”
Thor began barking and scratching at an air-conditioning unit in the corner of the room.
“Good boy,” Dore said, patting Thor before handing him a worn rubber toy used as a reward and training tool.
Deputies converted heroin, hashish, cocaine and methamphetamine from the sheriff’s office evidence room for use in the training.
The hotel’s caretakers agreed to allow police, who are always looking for new locations to train their dogs, use the site for training. Police make efforts to expose dogs to different environments so they can perform more effectively in field work.
Because of the unpredictability the field, variety is crucial in all aspects of training, Dublin Police Officer Eric Cochrun said. For example, if the hidden drugs were all in the same type of packaging, the dogs might become accustomed to look for a particular kind of material instead of keying in on the drugs’ smell.
“We don’t want to train them to find plastic bags,” Cochrun said. “We want them to find drugs.”
So, officers hid the drugs wrapped in nylon, aluminum foil and even in a wooden box. During training, the officers also hide dog food, air fresheners and other fragrant items that criminals might use to conceal the scent of drugs.
The hotel’s size, amount of rooms and variety of smells there made it an attractive site to conduct training, Delaware County Sheriff Walter L. Davis III said.
The Delaware County Sheriff’s Office currently has two K-9 officers, named Thor and Rocky. A third dog retired in September and the sheriff’s office is currently seeking a replacement.
“Our K-9s are valuable law enforcement tools,” Davis wrote in an e-mail to the Gazette. “The dogs are used in a variety of ways including detecting narcotics, tracking people, evidence recovery and suspect apprehension.”
Employees with the Ashley-based dog-training company Azzi International walked two K-9s-in-training, Elvis and King, through the exercises. The dogs, which are imported from Europe, require months of training before they are ready for the field.
The sheriff’s office is considering buying Elvis, but Davis said it was too early to make a final decision.
“It is helpful to observe a dog in training but it’s too early for us to make a decision,” Davis said. First, the sheriff’s office would need to hire a K-9 handler, he said. “The match between a handler and a K-9 is very important.”
Cochrun, a six-year veteran of the Dublin Police Department, has worked with his K-9 partner Bairre for three years.
At the end of the day, Bairre goes home with Cochrun and roams free around the house along with his other three dogs. Cochrun described the trust he has with K-9 partner, Bairre, as a “powerful partnership.”
“I spend more time with that dog than my wife and kids,” Cochrun said.
K9 partner stable, full recovery expected
St. Paul police officer Patrick Murphy with Boomer, his German shepherd K-9 partner. Boomer was wounded in a police standoff Monday.
Go, Boomer!!
———
Boomer took a bullet but barked all the way to the hospital.
St. Paul police officer Patrick Murphy, shaken that his K-9 partner had been shot, took the barking as a good sign for the dog’s prognosis, said police spokesman Peter Panos.
It still wasn’t known Tuesday whether an armed man, whom officers later killed, was the one who shot Boomer or whether an officer had accidentally wounded the 5-year-old German shepherd, Panos said.
The bullet entered Boomer’s mouth and came out the top of his nose, said Dr. Greg Anderson, University of Minnesota associate clinical professor of surgery. The dog lost two teeth and 30 percent to 40 percent of his blood.
After the shooting, Murphy put Boomer in his squad car and rushed him to the University Veterinary Medical Center, where “a lot of people worked really hard” to care for the dog, Anderson said.
Boomer’s condition Monday night “was critical and his life was in danger,” but Tuesday, he was stable and “has a very good chance to making a full recovery,” Anderson said.
Boomer needed blood transfusions, and his wounds were packed to stop the bleeding, Anderson said. The dog was “quiet, alert and responsive” and “somewhat sedated” Tuesday because he is receiving pain medicine, Anderson said.
Boomer will be placed under anesthesia again today, his wounds will be cleaned, a fractured tooth will be removed and the rest of his teeth will be X-rayed to make sure there aren’t any more fractures, Anderson
said.
Boomer, who lives with Murphy (all St. Paul police dogs live with their human partners), should be going home Thursday and could be back to work in three to four weeks, Anderson said.
