Lake County Gazette

According to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, its canines are proving to be a valuable resource for the community after a dog named Dax apprehended nine suspects during one 24-hour period recently. 

In a post on Facebook, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office noted that Deputy John Forlenza and Dax in the early morning hours of June 1 responded to a report of a stolen vehicle that had been found crashed. The canine was able to track down three juvenile suspects who were taken into custody, according to the post on social media. Lake County Sheriff John D. Idleburg said in a statement that the canine unites continue to impress each day. 

“They are a significant necessity in keeping our community safe,” the sheriff said in the statement. “I could not be prouder of the work of our five canine teams and cannot wait for our two additional teams to finish their basic training and hit the streets.”

Less than 24 hours later, law enforcement officials came across another stolen vehicle that had been crashed in Deerfield, according to the Facebook news release, and Forlenza and Dax responded to the scene. 

According to the release, Dax tracked the suspects who had left the vehicle and ran into a wooded area. The canine tracked down six juveniles who were apprehended. 

This wasn’t the first time Dax assisted in the apprehension of a suspect. According to the Lake & McHenry County Scanner, the canine was involved in the arrest of a man involved in an assault. The release noted that the dog trailed the suspect for a quarter of a mile before tracking him to a shed. The release noted that the suspect gave up upon hearing the bark of the canine outside the shed he was hiding in.