Sheriff’s dog died in overheated patrol car

By Alice Queen

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    COVINGTON, Georgia (Rockdale Citizen) — The Newton County Sheriff’s Office is blaming the August death of its K9 Officer Tom-Tom on faulty air conditioning equipment, which led to the dog’s death in an overheated patrol vehicle. Sheriff Ezell Brown called it an “unfortunate and unintentional incident.” The K9’s death has also prompted a policy change requiring K9 handlers to check on their K9s more often.

K9 Tom-Tom died Aug. 30 after being left in the rear of Deputy Tremelle Riley’s patrol vehicle, which was parked across Usher Street from the Newton County Judicial Center. An internal investigation report, obtained by the Citizen through an Open Records request, states that the air conditioning in Riley’s unmarked Ford Excursion had been left running but had stopped cooling sufficiently, allowing the temperature in the vehicle to reach 102.8 degrees. A necropsy conducted by the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine found Tom-Tom’s death was likely caused by hyperthermia.

Brown said the investigation showed that Riley “loved K9 Tom-Tom and would not, under any circumstances, cause intentional harm to the canine. He and his family continue to mourn the loss of their beloved pet.” The Sheriff’s Office did not respond when asked if Riley faced any disciplinary action in connection with the incident.

As a result of K9 Tom-Tom’s death, the Sheriff’s Office has purchased updated equipment for its K9 officers.

“Most, if not all canine units, have received new vehicles or will be receiving new vehicles in an effort to prevent another incident of this nature from reoccurring,” said Sheriff Brown in a statement issued Tuesday. “Additionally, we are instituting more policies, including a policy that will require canine handlers to conduct periodic safety assessments during their respective tours of duty and not rely on the functionality of their patrol vehicles.”

Lt. Michael Cunningham, who conducted the five-month internal investigation into K9 Tom-Tom’s death, recommended that all NCSO K9 handlers be required to check on their K9 partners at least hourly while on duty and that the K9 kennel be moved to the Special Investigation’s Unit office, which is directly behind the Judicial Center.

In the investigation, Cunningham found that Riley had arrived at the Judicial Center at 7:30 a.m. on Aug. 30 and had taken Tom-Tom, a 3-year-old explosives-sniffing dog, out to sweep the area at about 7:45 a.m. Riley then placed the German shorthaired pointer in the back cargo area of his patrol vehicle at about 8 a.m. and proceeded to Chief Superior Court Judge John Ott’s courtroom where he served as lead deputy. Riley stated that he returned to his patrol vehicle at about 10:30 a.m. to allow Tom-Tom to relieve himself and then placed the dog back inside the patrol vehicle.

Nearly two hours later, Riley reportedly returned to his vehicle where he found Tom-Tom unresponsive. Riley attempted to revive the dog — giving rescue breaths, chest compressions and pouring water on Tom-Tom, “but he noticed that rigor mortis had set in,” according to the report.

In the investigative report, Riley was described as visibly upset at the dog’s death. Both Riley’s supervisor and co-workers at the Judicial Center said he and his family had a close relationship with the dog and that he was very attentive to Tom-Tom.

In addition to the equipment malfunction blamed in Tom-Tom’s death, the NCSO’s investigation found that Aug. 30 was a busy day in Judge Ott’s courtroom and Riley was not able to take frequent breaks to walk the dog. However, the court reporter on duty that day left due to illness, and there are no records detailing recesses during the day’s proceedings.

Cunningham reported that prior to being assigned the Ford Excursion in which Tom-Tom died, Riley had been assigned a vehicle that was appropriately equipped with heating and air conditioning, as well as K9 safety equipment. “Unfortunately, this particular vehicle’s mechanical system malfunctioned; therefore, Deputy Riley and K9 Tom-Tom were required to be assigned another vehicle until the agency could re-acquire a vehicle equipped with the necessities to accommodate Deputy Riley and more specifically, K9 Tom-Tom.”

Major Sammy Banks, who is responsible for procuring and outfitting NCSO vehicles, told Cunningham that the funds to purchase a K9 vehicle were provided in October 2020 through a grant. However, Banks said due to manufacturing issues there were no Chevrolet Tahoes available, and one was never purchased. Banks said in April 2021, the department decided to go ahead with the purchase of a Dodge Durango. It was not clear from the report why that vehicle had not been assigned to Riley.

Brown said Tuesday that Riley has not been reassigned to the K9 Unit since the incident. “However, he has received extensive state and federal training in K9 handling, and because of this, I expect he will be reassigned to the K9 Unit.”

“We regret this incident happened; most importantly, we regret the trauma the death of K9 Tom-Tom caused to the Riley family,” added Brown. “K9 Tom-Tom was directly involved in their daily lives, and I hope and pray that the loss of K9 Tom-Tom will not have an everlasting effect on the their family.”

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