HOUSTON—It happened in broad daylight – the silence of an otherwise quiet neighborhood in northeast Harris County shattered by a brick through a window, thrown by a group of young burglary suspects.
Investigators said the suspects were after a flat-screen TV and some electronics, but their plan was thwarted by a neighbor who called 911.
One of the officers who responded to the scene went far beyond the call of duty.
"He was brave. He was doing what he was trained to do. My heart goes out to them. I’m sorry for what happened to him," neighbor Miguel Sauceda said.
He’s talking about K-9 Officer Blek, who arrived at the scene with his partner, Deputy Dahlin.
Caught off-guard by the arrival of the officers, two of the burglary suspects fled on foot.
Deputy Dahlin was combing the dense woods with K-9 Officer Blek when he lost communication with the dog because of the noise generated by a helicopter hovering above them.
After that, their search was expanded to include Blek, as well as the suspects.
"We now know he did catch up with the suspects as they were going over a fence. The dog proceeded to detain one of them, and the other one jumped up behind him and choked the dog to death," Capt. Wally Wieghat said.
After an extensive, multi-agency search, four suspects were taken into custody – among them, 17-year-old Cornelious Harrell, who was wearing shredded clothes.
Authorites believe he’s the one who killed K-9 Officer Blek.
"He used his bare hands. Put the dog in an arm lock and choked him to death," Wieghat said.
It was a death unbefitting a creature of such devotion and substance.
"He loved to interact with kids. Of course, he loved to work, too. He was an excellent KP and responded extremely well to apprehending suspects. It’s just very tragic we had people who didn’t value life any more than these boys did," Wieghat said.
And now, the men and women of Harris County Precinct 4 are mourning the loss of one of their own.
"He was one of our family," Wieghat said.
