Mobile County Sheriff’s Office K-9 recovering after taking down suspect

MOBILE COUNTY, Ala. ( WKRG ) — A Mobile County Sheriff’s Office K-9 is in recovery after being kicked in the face in the line of duty.

K-9 Hunter has been examined and is continuing to be monitored after taking a kick to the head while in pursuit of a suspect. On Tuesday, deputies attempted to serve a warrant for 35-year-old Robert Dees on Merwood Court in Theodore.

When deputies arrived, Dees reportedly ran from the property. K-9 Hunter was then deployed and caught Dees, but that’s when the suspect intentionally kicked the K-9, injuring his left eye. We spoke with Sheriff Paul Burch about his condition, and the danger deputies and K-9s face daily.

“When the K-9 is deployed or a K-9 is deployed, you know, the deputies follow suit. They usually take them off leash. And you never know if the suspects are armed or not,” explained Sheriff Paul Burch. “The idea behind using the K-9 is to apprehend them before they can get too far away and hopefully without any injuries to any people, you know, especially my deputies.”

Dees and K-9 Hunter were the only ones harmed during the incident. Right now, K-9 Hunter is taking things slowly and expected to be okay. He has a retirement ceremony planned for next week. The Sheriff’s Office tells us Hunter was scheduled to retire before Tuesday’s incident.

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