Lake County Sheriff’s Office Canine Ryker, on his second birthday, which was on Thursday, tracked down a suspect who fled from police.
“K9 Ryker got his birthday wish yesterday! A successful track!” the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said Friday evening.
Ryker and his handler Deputy Craig Somerville were requested Thursday to search for a man who fled on foot. The man was wanted on felony charges.
Ryker tracked for well over one and a half miles through the woods, a golf course, and into a subdivision.
The canine successfully tracked to the area where the suspect was and he surrendered to police officers as they closed in, the sheriff’s office said.
On Thursday, the same day that Ryker tracked down the suspect, the sheriff’s office said the canine was celebrating his second birthday.
Ryker is the newest canine at the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
He was assigned to Somerville, a veteran canine handler, after the deputy lost his last partner, canine Diesel, to an aggressive form of cancer in September.
Ryker is part of the sheriff’s office’s five canine units, which include Dax, Duke, Danno and Boomer.
The canines are deployed hundreds of times a year to look for missing endangered people, search for individuals who fled from a crime, detect drugs being trafficked and other various situations.