Tulare sheriff’s dog shot after biting detective instead of suspect, deputies say
A police dog with the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office was shot Tuesday morning by a detective after authorities said the dog confused the undercover deputy for a suspect.
The K-9, Jack, was taken to a local veterinarian and is expected to survive.
“Please keep everyone involved in this difficult incident in your thoughts,” the sheriff’s office wrote in a Facebook post. “We are so grateful that K9 Deputy Jack is expected to recover from his injury.”
Just before 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, a sheriff’s office unit was conducting surveillance of a carjacking and robbery suspect who also wanted on warrants for having a gun and resisting arrest.
Detectives stopped a car near Inyo Avenue and West Street in Tulare, and the suspect, Ricardo Aguirre, was in the backseat. He jumped out and ran east on Inyo, and detectives ran after him, deputies said.
K-9 Jack chased Aguirre. A detective wearing plain clothes crossed paths with Jack, who confused the detective for the suspect. Jack latched onto the detective’s tactical vest, and the detective fired one round into the dog’s neck, deputies said.
The detective was not seriously hurt.
Aguirre, the carjacking and robbery suspect, later was caught and arrested.
Sheriff Mike Boudreaux asked the Tulare Police Department to investigate the incident. The detective was placed on paid administrative leave, a standard practice in an officer-involved shooting.
This story was originally published September 3, 2019 at 4:20 PM.