TACOMA, Wash. – Six arrests in one week is good for any K-9. But this Washington state police dog's achievement is extra special.
Pierce County Sheriff's Department officials say a K-9 officer named Dan is named after Sheriff's Deputy Daniel McCartney, who was killed in the line of duty.
K-9 Dan's arrests began on Jan. 7 – one year to the day after McCartney was killed. The help ranged from chasing burglary suspects to sniffing out a stabbing suspect hiding in a house.
"The one-year anniversary that Dan was killed, K-9 Dan was able to get a capture," said Deputy Luke Baker of the K-9 unit. "It was somewhat of a tearjerker for all the deputies on scene. It was really meaningful to us."
"Maybe he had a little extra inspiration from above," a Pierce County Sheriff's Department Facebook post read.
Baker said K-9 Dan's enthusiasm and commitment is almost reminiscent of deputy McCartney.
"He's really strong, he's really fast and he likes to catch bad guys," Baker said. "So we're reminded of Dan McCartney through K-9 Dan every day."
K-9 Dan was actually late for his interview with KCPQ. Why?
He was out helping arrest another bad guy.
