Two arrests were made in two separate cases over the weekend by one unique Mentor Police officer — the four-legged crime-fighting K9 named Titan.
Titan, a 7-year-old German Shepherd, has more “apprehensions” under his collar than any other police dog in the department’s history. Apprehensions is K9 cop talk for biting the bad guys, by the way.
Titan started out Easter weekend by finding drugs inside a suspect’s vehicle.
Then on Sunday, he was able to track down a man who police believe was breaking into at least half a dozen vehicles parked in driveways in a Mentor neighborhood.
Hours later, Titan was used once again in Madison Township. A man robbed a convenience store with a knife, then took off running into the woods.
Titan was able to track him and, after numerous failed attempts to convince the suspect to come out, Titan bit onto his shoe and dragged him out from hiding.
“I’m sure I looked like an idiot after we found the guy, I’m just praising Titan, it’s like I’m praising my toddler for walking for the first time,” said Titan’s partner, K9 officer Terry Wurgler. “It’s amazing, there’s no other feeling like it.”
While Titan is getting all the glory these days, each of the seven Lake County K-9s possess special and specific skills, from bomb and drug detection to finding missing people.
Mentor Police have two dogs in their K9 Unit. Other cities in Lake County with K9s are Willoughby, Willowick, Painesville and Perry Township. They are able to dispatch throughout the county to assist other departments.
