One of the newest K-9 teams, Officer Ryan Huteson and his partner, Delta, have only been working the streets as a team for a few months. However, earlier this month the team completed two separate, successful tracks that resulted in the arrests of the suspects in one shift.
On April 13th, shortly after 10:00 pm, officers responded to a domestic violence disturbance in the Rainier Valley. Officers were informed that the ex-boyfriend was harassing a woman at a residence and refusing to leave. A check of the suspect’s name returned showing that he had a felony Department of Corrections warrant for escape.
Officers located the suspect a few blocks away from the residence and ordered him to stop, but he ran. The K-9 team of Officer Huteson and Delta responded and began tracking, locating the suspect in a nearby parking lot where he was taken into custody. The suspect was later booked into jail for the outstanding warrant.
A few hours later, just before 2:00 am on Saturday, the team responded to a possible car prowl and burglary in progress in the Lakeridge neighborhood. The suspect was chased off by the victim, who observed the suspect enter the driveway of another residence down the street. Police Dog Delta, with Officer Huteson, tracked the suspect and located him hiding underneath a walkway where he was taken into custody. The victim later positively identified the suspect. The 37-year-old suspect had drugs and burglary tools, knives, a replica pistol and an expandable baton on him when he was arrested. He was later booked into jail on multiple charges, and detectives are handling the follow up investigation.
Not bad work for one shift! Delta was purchased through a grant from the Seattle Police Foundation and was named for Delta Air Lines, after they made a financial contribution toward the purchase.
