Nebraska: Omaha Police Department K9 recovering after being hit with metal pipe

NEBRASKA -- A man is under arrest after bringing Interstate 80 to a stand still during Friday rush hour, and injuring an Omaha Police Department canine officer in the process, the department said.

According to OPD, “Tye” was struck by a metal pipe and needed emergency medical attention, but is now recovering well.

The situation unfolded late Friday afternoon when police say they got reports that a man was walking in the westbound traffic lanes of I-80 near 42nd Street.

Officers arrived and said they saw the suspect, 24-year-old Edgar Garcia-Herrera, carrying a broken glass bottle and a metal pipe.

He refused to leave the traffic lanes and jumped over the eastbound side of interstate.

Nebraska State Patrol officers came and blocked all eastbound traffic.

Officers say Garcia-Herrera started throwing rocks at them. They attempted to use a stun gun on the suspect, but weren’t successful, OPD said. Officers then sent “Tye” after the man, used a stun gun again, and got a hold of the suspect.

Garcia-Herrera had minor injuries and was taken to Nebraska Medicine; at one point, police say he struck Tye with the metal pipe, and the dog needed emergency veterinarian treatment.

No other officers were injured, the department said.

Saturday morning, OPD posted an update about Tye to its Facebook page:

“OPD K-9 Tye was injured while assisting several of his human counterparts in the apprehension of a party on Interstate 80 last night. We are very happy to report that he is home with his handler and taking a few days off to recover. He will continue followup appointments to make sure he is in the best of health before returning to work.Thank you to all the members of our amazing community who have expressed concern for Tye.”

Garcia-Herrera was booked for assault on an officer, four counts of attempted assault on an officer, destruction of property, obstructing a peace officer and resisting arrest.

EARLIER ARTICLE:
It wasn’t that long ago on this site, we introduced you to one of our newest members of the canine unit. That member was Officer Jodi Sautter’s dog “Tye.” Tye was named after Officer Jason Pratt who was shot in the line of duty on Sept 11, 2003 and died eight days later.

One of the people who read that story was Lee Pratt-Berman, Jason Pratt’s grandmother. Lee reached out to Sgt. Worley and asked to meet “Tye.” She told Sgt. Worley that she was getting” old and before she dies and meets back up with Jason, she wanted to meet Tye. That way when she got to Heaven she would be able to tell Jason that she met the OPD Canine that was named in his memory.”

Sgt. Worley was deeply touched by this request and immediately reached out to Officer Sautter to set up a time to meet Jason’s grandmother.

On Monday April 27th, Officer Sautter and Tye had the opportunity to pay a visit to Lee. It was love at first sight and many stories were shared and remembered about Officer Jason Pratt.

Pratt-Berman wears a bracelet on her wrist and a button with a picture of her grandson, who she calls Ty.

"Whenever I leave, I just feel lost without them, and I always put Ty on," she said.

She said Pratt is in a better place, but she just has to wait her turn to get there.

"He'll always be in my heart, but he's in heaven, and since I’m 89 years old, I don’t think it will be long before I’m up there with him," Pratt-Berman said.

 

Even though this is a tough time for police across the country, it is these types of opportunities that remind Officers like Jodi Sautter, why they chose to go into law enforcement and why these stories are the ones that really matter.

(KETV - Aug 27, 2016)