COLUMBUS, Ind. — The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department is grieving the loss of one their K9s who was killed while chasing a suspect in the county Saturday afternoon.
K9 Diesel was killed at about 4:30 p.m. Saturday while attempting to cross I-65 in pursuit of an individual who was wanted for strangulation and battery in a domestic violence incident, said Sheriff Matt Myers. The individual, who is not being identified at this time, was also wanted on a warrant. He was apprehended after being found hiding in a ravine near I-65, Myers said.
Diesel, a German Shepherd, had been with the sheriff’s department since 2016, assigned to handler Deputy Matt Bush. Diesel, who joined the department in 2016, was purchased with funds from Real World Testing LLC in Columbus and then dispatcher and now Deputy Dylan Prather, who individually raised $18,000 to obtain the dog for the department.
Diesel was known to aggressively go after suspects and was used extensively to find drugs in vehicles, and to search for suspects who had fled from police. His handler told The Republic at one time that the K9 loved to chase balls, appreciated belly rubs and did not like to be ignored.
The incident that led to Diesel’s death began on day shift, when a domestic battery was reported to the sheriff’s department, Myers said. The suspect had fled prior to the deputies arriving.
The search was passed on to the afternoon shift and deputies were in the area of County Road 600S and 250W when the individual was found and Bush attempted to stop the suspect’s vehicle, Myers said.
The suspect got out of his vehicle and ran, and Bush warned the individual that he would release Diesel if the suspect didn’t stop. When the suspect kept running, Diesel was released. Bush stayed at the scene with two other people who were in the suspect’s vehicle.
Deputies believe Diesel following the individual across the interstate, but the deputies did not see the dog being hit by the vehicle and killed. They only learned what had happened to Diesel when attempts to call him back were unsuccessful.
The department initially believes the dog was struck, but now are investigating if Diesel was stabbed or injured while chasing the suspect, leading to the dog’s death, Myers said. A driver on the interstate stopped to remove the dog from the interstate, Myers said.
The initial examination of the dog does not show massive trauma that would be expected if the dog was hit by a vehicle traveling at high speeds, and the department will investigate if being hit by a vehicle was the actual cause of Diesel’s death.
“Our K9 officer and all the deputies and the entire department is very shook up, this is a loss,” Myers said. “Diesel was an excellent dog.”
The department wants to give Bush and his family time with Diesel to grieve the loss before any arrangements are announced.
“This is a sad day for the sheriff’s office,” Myers said. “That dog was a police dog and he was a service dog and he was working when he died. It’s a sad day in Columbus. My heart goes out to Matt and all the deputies.”
More information will be released when the department puts together more details, Myers said.
For more on this story, see Sunday’s Republic.
