Aransas Pass police video captures dog rescue

ARKANSAS -- One Aransas Pass police officer’s quick instinct was what some may call doggone heroic — and it was caught on video.

A pair of Siberian huskies Allie, 2, and Claire, 1, sneaked out of a fence at their owner’s apartment building and spent some time in April lingering around Conn Brown Harbor.

On patrol, Aransas Pass Officer Nick Harwood saw Claire but Allie wasn’t with her, police Chief Eric Blanchard said.

Allie fell into the water and couldn’t get out, he said.

 

  

 

Harwood told his supervisor who arrived at the harbor as Harwood disrobed to his boxers and undershirt and jumped in the water.

But Harwood didn’t know his supervisor, Cpl. J.D. Hinojosa, recorded Harwood’s rescue of the dog, Blanchard said.

The video, which was captured on the supervisor’s body camera, shows Hinojosa lighting Harwood’s way with a flashlight as he makes his way to Allie.

Hinojosa playfully jabbed at Harwood throughout his time in the water: “You scared?”

He also sang a portion of Mariah Carey’s “Hero” as Harwood was getting out of the water.

When the officer finds out his supervisor was recording he asks him to turn it off.

“I can’t ... we’re on a call,” he responds.

 Blanchard said he posted the video Thursday morning to the Police Department’s Facebook page after reviewing recent videos for an upcoming citizen’s police academy.

“I was, like, ‘You know what? This is something we need to release now ... just to kind of humor it up,” he said.

Blanchard said he checked with Harwood first: It is standard protocol, and plus, the officer can be seen in just his boxers. 

The dogs’ owner at the time, Nancy Vanibuls, saw the video for the first time Thursday on Facebook.
“I thought it was beautiful,” said Vanibuls, who hasn’t met Harwood. “I actually cried. I want my babies back home.”

She shared the video with a message of gratitude.

Vanibuls said the dogs kept trying to leave home.

“They got a taste of running, and they liked it,” she said. “That’s when, you know, you love something that much ... you got to do what makes them happy.”

Allie lives with a new owner in Aransas Pass, and Claire lives with a family friend in Brownsville.

(Corpus Christi Caller-Times - Aug 6, 2015)