March 2016 Find

DEVIN MALONEY

K-9 JAX

KETTERING POLICE DEPARTMENT

At 1:57 AM on 21 March, 2016, Ptl. Anderson of the Kettering Police Department conducted a traffic stop for a turn signal violation in the area of Galewood and Talisman in Kettering, Ohio, on a black 1995 Ford Ranger. The driver had a felony drug history, CCW history and was very agitated. Ptl. Anderson requested consent to search and was denied, so a K9 was dispatched.

Ptl. Devin Maloney and K9 Jax responded to the dispatch. Ptl. Maloney and K9 Jax (18 month old German Shepherd) received their initial certification through OPOTA December 23rd, 2015, and are assigned to the midnight shift on road patrol. Upon arrival, K9 Jax was deployed on an exterior free air sniff of this vehicle, beginning at the center of the rear bumper.

As K9 Jax was being put in the starting position at the center rear of the vehicle, a change of breathing behavior was noticed in K9 Jax and his head was lowered to the ground. The sniff was started, working counterclockwise from the starting point. Immediately, K9 Jax started pulling back towards where the starting point was. Ptl. Maloney let K9 Jax go off lead and he went straight to the rear driver’s side bumper, crawling under it. Once under the bumper, K9 Jax began scratching, biting and growling at the bumper.

There was a backpack in the truck bed near the location K9 Jax had indicated. As Ptl. Maloney started searching it, the suspect requested Ptl. Maloney to just dump out the backpack and get the marijuana out of it, because he wanted his summons so he could get out of the cold. This response sounded odd, so Ptl. Maloney retrieved the small amount of marijuana and continued searching the vehicle. Ptl. Maloney crawled under the vehicle to search the bumper area that K9 Jax had indicated to, finding a black plastic box stuck inside the lip of the rear bumper. Inside this compartment 4 grams of Methamphetamine, 8 grams of Cocaine, 25 Diazepam pills and 50 grams of an unknown suspected narcotic was located. In addition there was a digital scale and large amount of plastic baggies in this compartment.

K9 Jax was then put inside the interior of this vehicle, coming to a quick indication on the center console. Inside this center console was almost $2000 in cash, which was seized. The suspect was charged with Drug Trafficking, Felony Drug Possession, Having a Hidden Compartment and Felony Criminal Tools. This seizure would not have been possible without the use of K9 Jax by Ptl. Maloney.