‘I know that some will say it’s just a dog.’ Richland County K9 Wick laid to rest

Not even two weeks after South Carolina Law Enforcement Division K9 Coba was memorialized in Columbia, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department remembered their own K9 who recently died in the line of duty.

The sheriff’s department on Tuesday mournfully celebrated K9 Wick, who was struck and killed by a car on I-77 while pursuing a man suspected of stealing a car last month. Wick’s handler, K9 Specialist Zaid Abdullah, said he was experiencing a flurry of emotions, “trying to be happy” in celebrating his “boy” while reminiscing about the past, which made him “sad.”

“He was always ready,” Abdullah said. “We had a very short run, but I felt like the day before he passed, he was right where I wanted him to be. Every time I opened up that kennel ... he was ready to work and I’m going to miss that, knowing that I had a bad ass in the back seat.”

Wick, a 3-year-old Belgian Malinois, died early on the morning of June 20 after deputies spotted a stolen vehicle being operated near Windsor Lake Boulevard and Brookfield Road. Deputies tried to initiate a traffic stop but the driver ignored them, according to the sheriff’s department. A pursuit ensued that ultimately ended on I-77 after deputies deployed stop sticks. Abdullah and Wick began pursuing the driver after he ran away from the vehicle. During the pursuit, Wick was hit by a car traveling northbound on the highway after his leash broke away from Abdullah.

“I know that some will say, ‘It’s just a dog,’” said Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott. “But people who say something like that have never had an opportunity to love and be loved by a dog. That is a special love that only those who have shared it with a dog understand.”

The sheriff’s department announced an arrest in the theft the resulted in K9 Wick’s death. Thomas Taylor, 44, was arrested by the sheriff’s department and booked into the Richland County jail on July 1. He was charged with first degree burglary, grand larceny and failure to stop for blue lights.

Abdullah says he’s currently training with a new 18-month-old K9 named Jet. He and Jet are set to hit the road on Nov. 1.

Lott spoke of the bond the develops between the sheriff’s department K9s and their handlers.

“The love that they have developed for each other ... the time that they spend together, the work that they do together and the dangers that they encounter together, very few people have an opportunity to really understand that,” Lott said.