When a dog-day afternoon culminates in a tail-wagging ending, it is a tale worth sharing. On this particular Friday afternoon, three of man’s best friends were in the spotlight when one dog literally took a bite out of crime and the other two critters took a hair-raising helicopter ride to safety.
Taking a bite out of crime…
First to grab attention was Phoenix police K-9 “Zeke.” Just before noon on Friday, January 22, 2010, Francisco Carrillo entered an automotive store near 19th Avenue and Earll Drive in Phoenix. He approached an employee and, placing what she thought was a weapon into her back, demanded she give him all the money from the store’s cash registers into a white cloth bag he had with him. She complied and as Carrillo grabbed the bag and ran from the store, he pushed and knocked another employee to the ground. Carrillo ran into the neighborhood across the street where Phoenix police soon caught up with him. Police, believing the suspect was armed, called for a K-9. The suspect was located in a backyard shed where he refused to comply with police commands to come out. “Zeke” did what police dogs do and went in after the suspect, literally taking a bite out of crime. Once in custody, Carrillo was treated by Phoenix Fire paramedics and then booked on robbery, trespassing and assault charges.
Shortly after “Zeke’s” heroic capture of the robber, Phoenix Police and Fire along with representative from the Arizona Humane Society, Phoenix Water Department, and a number of other emergency personnel were called to 91st Avenue and the Salt River bottom where citizens and two dogs were stranded in the normally dry river bed. The citizens had driven into the area earlier in the day when the road was not flooded. However, due to the heavy rain the valley experienced throughout the week, the Tempe Town Lake Dam released water and the dry river bed downstream quickly became a swift and raging river that closed a number of roads from north to south. Once the stranded citizens were back on dry land—including a homeless man who had climbed a tree and was scooped up by rescuers in the Police/Fire Rescue helicopter, the air unit focused on the two big Rottweilers left on one of the islands in the middle of the river.
The chopper was loaded with rescue personnel who asked the dogs’ owner to go with them. He had expressed concerns that one of the dogs could potentially react viciously. Each dog would require a separate rescue operation; two dogs in one confined chopper would be one too many! The first dog, “Oso,” was muzzled and brought to safety—indeed, he was not happy. Dog number two, however, was a different story. After rescuers helped him out of the helicopter and his muzzle was removed, he quickly showed his affection and gratitude bringing the day to a tail-wagging end.