"Okay, that's a new title for me," jokes West in an interview with KSN.
So, how did he get the name? He saved the dog and saved the day. Richard is normally a community police officer. On Friday, he noticed something wrong on busy Kellogg near Grove.
"He was just peaking his head over the top the barrier between different lanes of Kellogg," says West.
Lost dog. Stuck in the middle of Kellogg.
"My perception is the animal was panicked being in there. Couldn't get to anybody," explains West.
But, West was also worried about traffic zipping by at 60 mph.
"Obviously, I didn't want the dog to get into Kellogg traffic and get hit because then you're looking at a major accident."
West got his car in place, turned on his emergency flashers, and got to work. But, it took some time.
"Number one, my patrol car being there blocking a lane and that's a concern with drivers not paying attention to what they are doing. Texting. Talking on cell phones, that's always a concern for me even though I was inside the wall. Again, it's still dangerous for me as well."
But, it wasn't enough to stop him from saving the dog and saving the day. West approached the lost dog.
"He was shaken. I have no idea. I don't even know how he got up there."
"The dog approached me, and then, I was able to bond with it. I was able to get him calmed down so he wouldn't try and dart out into traffic.
West says he began petting the dog. When animal control arrived, they tried to put a leash around it.
"They were not able to. He kind of moved away from them. I guess the dog trusted me."
With the leash on the dog, he was taken to the pound.
"Well, it's just part of what I do. It doesn't matter to me. It's my job. It's what I do. We've had officers capture horses and stuff like that. You never know what's going to happen."
(KSN - Sept 7, 2012)
