Officer accused of leaving police dog in hot car

[RescueKujo 130]

PHOENIX - A suburban police officer is accused of leaving a police dog in a patrol car for more than 12 hours on a 109-degree day, killing the animal.

Chandler police Sgt. Tom Lovejoy was booked into the Maricopa County jail on a misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty after a two-week investigation into the death of a 5-year-old Belgian Malinois named Bandit. He was released later Wednesday, said Capt. Paul Chagolla, a spokesman for the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.

The sheriff’s investigation showed Bandit was in Lovejoy’s patrol car from about 9 a.m. to shortly after 10 p.m. Aug. 11. During that time, the investigation found, the officer ran errands, napped and ate out with his wife. Lovejoy later found the dog dead in the car.

“I am certain Sgt. Lovejoy has suffered greatly from leaving his police dog in a sweltering car,” Sheriff Joe Arpaio said in a statement. “I do not relish the idea of compounding his sadness. However, Lovejoy must be treated like anyone else in similar circumstances.”

Lovejoy said Wednesday night that he is scheduled to appear in court Sept. 25 and that his lawyer advised him not to comment further.

“With the sheriff railing on me right now, it’s kind of hard to say anything,” Lovejoy said.

Chandler Police Chief Sherry Kiyler said in a statement that the department respects and supports the criminal justice system and its processes, and that an internal investigation has been launched.

Looks like someone's gonna lose their badge....

Edited September 6, 2007 by RescueKujo

[Oswegowind 17]

We get calls like this all the time...never thought the handler would be the one to do it! That is just horrible. Technically, he killed a police officer in the line of duty!

[JM15 386]

That is disgraceful he should lose his badge

[DOC22 1]

That is disgraceful he should lose his badge

Lose his badge AND do hard time as well!

[helicopper 1,050]

Absolutely tragic!

Most (if not all) of all K9 vehicles around here have an automatic engine idler that starts the car and runs the AC automatically. If that fails (as I understand it) the lights flash, horn sounds, and windows open. I can't believe that in Arizona where it is so unbelievably hot, they don't have them.

As horrible as it is for the officer involved, he is facing the same charges any civilian would and probably will lose his job.

A sad day indeed!

Edited September 7, 2007 by Chris192

[tunaFish 0]

Cop Charged for Leaving Police Dog in Hot Car

Thursday , September 06, 2007

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PHOENIX —

Authorities arrested a Chandler police officer Wednesday in the death of a police dog that was left in a hot patrol car for more than 12 hours.

Chandler police Sgt. Tom Lovejoy was booked into Maricopa County jail in Phoenix on a misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty after a two-week investigation into the death of 5-year-old Belgian Malinois "Bandit."

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Lovejoy was released later Wednesday, said Capt. Paul Chagolla, a spokesman for the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.

"I am certain Sgt. Lovejoy has suffered greatly from leaving his police dog in a sweltering car," Sheriff Joe Arpaio said in a news release. "I do not relish the idea of compounding his sadness. However, Lovejoy must be treated like anyone else in similar circumstances."

Lovejoy said over the phone Wednesday night that he is scheduled to appear in court on the charge on Sept. 25. He said his lawyer advised him not to comment further.

"With the sheriff railing on me right now, it's kind of hard to say anything," Lovejoy said.

The sheriff's investigation showed Bandit was in Lovejoy's patrol car from about 9 a.m. to a little after 10 p.m. on Aug. 11. During that time, the investigation found that Lovejoy ran errands for his wife, napped for a short time and later ate out with his wife. Lovejoy later found the dead dog in the car.

In a statement, Chandler police Chief Sherry Kiyler said the department respects and supports the criminal justice system and its processes.

"We remain saddened by the loss of K9 Bandit," she wrote. "At this time our internal investigation is continuing and further comment by our department would be inappropriate until the completion of this process."

[JetPhoto 626]

Really sad that someone could forget something like that

[IzzyEng4 427]

Really sad that someone could forget something like that

I agree.

[Bababoosky 24]

What a shame. Since the k-9's are considered officers, would this be an LODD?

[GAW6 66]

Only a misdemeanor????!!!!!!

[PATROL224 0]

Just Tragic!!