TUCSON, Ariz. — The police department is calling one of its dogs a heroic K9 after being stabbed in the neck catching a suspected bank robber. It happened early Wednesday morning, but Blitz and his handler are in good spirits today.
“He works every day with me he's at home with us when we are home, you can't get a closer bond with an animal you know,” said Officer Mike Doyle.
Today he looks happy and healthy besides for the bandage on his neck.
“He’s ready to go back to work,” said Doyle. “Well he’s not but he’d like to think so.
Blitz went to work last night. Police say suspected bank robber Frank Garcia had been on the run for four days. He was considered armed and dangerous and hiding in a neighborhood near Swan and Pima.
“I lost sight of Blitz around a corner of a trailer I could see he was being punched, but I couldn't see what I learned later on, which was once we apprehended him there was a knife on the ground,” said Doyle.
“When I saw it on the ground it was bent so at some point stabbing blitz it bent the tip of it.”
Doyle says Blitz held Garcia down despite bleeding from the neck. Once he pulled his friend off they got him help.
“I started treatment immediately, threw him in a car, and got him to an animal hospital.”
Veterinarian’s say two puncture wounds at the back of the neck almost reached the dog's jugular.
“I'm glad it wasn't a cop, that's the important part. He's good, he's tough,” said Doyle.
Police say Blitz will be ready to get back to work in a couple weeks.
Garcia was booked into the Pima County Jail on charges of armed robbery and aggravated assault on a peace officer.
