Police Dog

RUTLAND, Vt. - A man who allegedly antagonized a police dog has been charged with cruelty after authorities said he growled and barked at the animal, prompting a reaction that left the dog with minor injuries. James Tibbitts, 41, was charged with cruelty to a police service animal after an incident Friday in which he was arrested for allegedly lying to police and then - on the five-minute ride to the police station - caused the dog to scratch at and bang his snout and teeth on the cage in the cruiser, police said.

With barely a woof and many a sniff, police canines from around the country are gathering in Lakeland, Fla., this week to see who will be top dog. Consider it the Westminster Dog Show of policing. For three days, the United States Police Canine Association is meeting at Florida Southern University and holding its national detector dog trials. About eighty teams from across the U.S. — from Maine to Minnesota to Texas to Iowa — are competing. Dogs, guided by their human handlers, are tested on their ability to sniff out drugs, explosives, arson materials, cadavers and wild...

Brockton's finest have lost one of their finest. A police dog named Gomo succumbed to cancer at age 12, after more than a decade of service that included nabbing the state's first Amber Alert suspect, sniffing out murder evidence in New Hampshire, and helping at Ground Zero after the 2001 attacks in New York City. The German shepherd lived with his handler, Officer Darvin Anderson, who said Gomo combined the skills of a police dog with the gentle demeanor of a beloved pet. "You cry for two weeks," said Anderson, who was with Gomo when he was euthanized and now is breaking in his new partner, Koda.

A police officer fell from a bridge abutment onto the edge of a highway while chasing a robbery suspect on foot early Thursday morning, suffering critical injuries. Stamford Officer Troy Strauser, 39, fell about 20 feet from the abutment over Interstate 95 in Norwalk and underwent surgery at Norwalk Hospital, police Chief Robert Nivakoff said. Strauser went back into surgery Thursday afternoon, said Capt. Tom Wuennemann. Police arrested Frank Douglas, 30, of Norwalk after the chase.

MONTPELIER - A memorial service is being planned for tomorrow for the Rutland city police dog killed late Tuesday night while its handler was trying to stop a fleeing vehicle carrying four Connecticut men. Rutland Police Lieutenant Kevin Geno said the 3 1/2-year-old German shepherd, named King Luther, was hit and killed by a State Police cruiser after jumping out of an officer's stopped cruiser along Route 7. Officer Frank Post had stopped to...

The following was submitted by Anthony David Salon: What: Come meet K-9 Havoc and enjoy an evening of art and photography by Anthony Vitale and Nicole Vecchi, to benefit Massachusetts Vest-a-Dog, Inc. an independent, all-volunteer, non-profit organization, that Supports Massachusetts Police Dogs by helping provide essential equipment, especially bulletproof K9 vests. The exhibit will be up through the end of May. When: April 25, 7-9 pm  Where: Anthony David Salon, 120 Cambridge St, Burlington, MA. 781...

PORTLAND, Maine -- The mother of a girl who was bitten by a Lisbon police dog says her daughter has been traumatized by the encounter and she has hired a lawyer to consider her legal options. Wendy Doyon said police are not doing enough about the incident, which occurred last week when her daughter Tianna Linton, 9, was visiting her uncle, Lisbon Police Sergeant Scott Stewart. The girl went into a porch area and was bitten on her elbow last week by a German shepherd that Stewart trains.

By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent Scituate police are looking to raise funds for a new police dog, after the department's six-year-old German Shepard, Felix , had to be put down in August. Although the town has a budget for a police dog, that money does not include the cost of purchase a new one, training it, and buying some equipment that a new dog would need. "We have to fund-raise a certain amount of money to keep the program up and running to purchase the dog, necessary equipment, vet expenses initially, it's not costly, just more than the...

Boston police captured an intruder in the South End after he took to rooftops in a mad dash to escape officers pursuing him, authorities said. The story began unfolding at 8:20 p.m. Sunday when police responded to a call reporting someone breaking in at 57 Dwight St. When officers arrived, they found a resident who said he had heard loud banging at the rear of his home. When he went to investigate, the resident told police, he saw a man who asked to be let in. The resident refused and said he would call police, and the man fled, allegedly jumping...

A police officer fell from a bridge abutment onto the edge of a highway while chasing a robbery suspect on foot early Thursday morning, suffering critical injuries. Stamford Officer Troy Strauser, 39, fell about 20 feet from the abutment over Interstate 95 in Norwalk and underwent surgery at Norwalk Hospital, police Chief Robert Nivakoff said. Strauser went back into surgery Thursday afternoon, said Capt. Tom Wuennemann. Police arrested Frank Douglas, 30, of Norwalk after the chase.

New Hampshire police are charging a man with first-degree assault after they say he carved an "X" into a relative's head. WMUR-TV ( http://bit.ly/LqFG2w) reports that 43-year-old Michael Masterson of Raymond is charged by Epping police with first-degree assault for allegedly cutting into the top of his stepfather-in-law's head. Police say the incident happened Wednesday night at the Epping home of 64-year-old relative. They say the man was hospitalized with serious injuries.

The following was submitted by Anthony David Salon: What: Come meet K-9 Havoc and enjoy an evening of art and photography by Anthony Vitale and Nicole Vecchi, to benefit Massachusetts Vest-a-Dog, Inc. an independent, all-volunteer, non-profit organization, that Supports Massachusetts Police Dogs by helping provide essential equipment, especially bulletproof K9 vests. The exhibit will be up through the end of May. When: April 25, 7-9 pm  Where: Anthony David Salon, 120 Cambridge St, Burlington, MA. 781 272-0002.

Braintree Police, partnered with Dave & Buster's, will host a Sunday breakfast on April 15 to raise money for the working dogs in the Braintree Police Department. The event will be from 9 to 11 a.m. and includes breakfast, unlimited play on non-redemption games, and $5 toward redemption games. Tickets are $15 for individuals; $35 for the entire family. - Jessica Bartlett

Police raided a dogfighting facility in a town south of Manila and rescued around 300 pitbulls, many with ripped ears and tongues, police and veterinarian officials said Saturday. Officers arrested two South Korean men suspected of operating the facility and four Filipino security guards during the raid late Friday on a 2-hectare (5-acre) compound in San Pablo township in Laguna province, said Renante Galang of the national police criminal investigation group. The raid followed two weeks' surveillance.

SYDNEY - Australia's most wanted man, who eluded authorities for seven years by hiding in dense forests, was captured and charged with murder Thursday, ending a frustrating and at times violent hunt, police said. Malcolm Naden was heavily bearded, barefoot, and wearing muddy clothes when New South Wales police found him just after midnight at a remote house near the town of Gloucester, about 160 miles north of Sydney. The former slaughterhouse worker has been charged with the 2005 strangling death of a cousin and other violent crimes.

A dog running into traffic on a busy New Mexico freeway caused a chain reaction that led to a fiery crash involving a semi full of frozen meat that shut down part of the road and backed up traffic for nearly four hours, authorities said. The crash happened Sunday on Interstate 40 in Albuquerque, KOB-TV reported (http://bit.ly/w9Ecuz). Police said a man driving on the freeway saw a dog darting into traffic and pulled over. The man got out of his car to help the animal, and a female driver saw him on the road and slammed on her brakes.

New Hampshire police are charging a man with first-degree assault after they say he carved an "X" into a relative's head. WMUR-TV ( http://bit.ly/LqFG2w) reports that 43-year-old Michael Masterson of Raymond is charged by Epping police with first-degree assault for allegedly cutting into the top of his stepfather-in-law's head. Police say the incident happened Wednesday night at the Epping home of 64-year-old relative. They say the man was hospitalized with serious injuries.

New Hampshire state police say a police dog tracked down a Massachusetts man who ran off after crashing into a state trooper's cruiser in Nashua. The trooper had pulled over another car on the F.E. Everett Turnpike early Saturday morning and was parked with his lights activated when another car crashed into him in the breakdown lane. Police say the driver ran away, prompting authorities to call in other troopers, Nashua police and Massachusetts state police. A police dog later caught 23-year-old Erik Burk, of Lowell, Mass., who was charged with conduct after an accident and...

A man kept fleeing police after all four tires of his car were flattened, driving into a field and running away before he was arrested. Thirty-five-year-old Michael Lemire of Manchester, who police wanted to question, didn't pull over at a Manchester house and drove north onto Interstate 93 on Thursday night. All four of his vehicle tires were deflated after he hit spike strips set up by police along I-93. Police said he eventually got off at Exit 17 in Concord and was headed toward Boscawen when he left the car. A police dog helped track him down.

A Barnstable man who disappeared after neighbors reported hearing gunfire outside his home has been captured in Florida. Police say 31-year-old William Hayes was arrested in Citrus County, Fla. when he fled on foot after being pulled over for running a red light. He was chased down by a police dog and had to be treated for dog bites. Barnstable police have been searching for Hayes since Jan. 19 when he allegedly fired several shots outside his home during an argument with another man. No one was hurt, but police say they found bullet holes in a neighboring house where a pregnant woman...