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By Sharla Steinman
Loveland Reporter-Herald, Colo.
LOVELAND, Colo. — A Loveland Police K-9 is back on duty after he was injured apprehending a suspected drunken driver who fought a Larimer County Sheriff’s Office deputy, according to officials.
At around 7:45 p.m. Feb. 5, an LCSO deputy initiated a traffic stop on a pickup truck with a suspected impaired driver, 50-year-old Greeley resident, near West 45th Street and North Grant Avenue in Loveland, according to an LCSO Facebook post. The driver stopped at a nearby apartment complex and spoke with the deputy for a few minutes, but then tried to walk away, the post stated.
When the deputy tried to stop the man from leaving, he started to fight the officer, according to the post. A large group of people also approached the scene and began disrupting law enforcement efforts, the post stated. Additional deputies were called, including a Loveland K-9 unit, and the LCSO deputy used a taser to attempt to gain the suspect’s compliance, but he remained combative, according to the post.
K-9 Nazar was deployed after the taser failed, but during the apprehension, the suspect punched the dog and compressed his neck, said Nazar’s handler, Loveland Officer Keith Hunter.
“K9 Nazar was critical in quickly ending the confrontation and aiding us in safely placing the suspect into custody,” Hunter wrote in an emailed statement. “It breaks my heart to see my partner assaulted in the line of duty. I am forever thankful for K9 Nazar’s loyalty and courage in keeping us safe!”
Nazar was left bruised up, according to an emailed statement from LPD Public Information Officer Chris Padgett, but the furry officer was back on duty over the weekend.
K-9 Sergeant Steve Colburn said the dogs are an essential part of law enforcement, adding that he believes their ability to track, locate evidence, find missing people, and protect the public are unable to be replicated by any technology or officer.
“Seeing a K9 injured in the line of duty is heartbreaking and underscores the risks that K9 teams take to serve our community,” Colburn wrote in an emailed statement. “Despite those risks, their courage and commitment never waver, and that is one of the many reasons we value them so highly.”
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