PHOENIX — The Pinal County Attorney’s Office says there will be no criminal charges against a Maricopa police officer following the death of his K9 after being left in hot patrol car last June.
Maricopa police says it will suspend officer Craig Curry for 20 hours without pay after a months-long DPS investigation and internal investigation. Records say he left his K9 Ike in a police car for more than an hour before Ike died from the heat.
"It’s unfortunate," says Chandler Police Sgt. Thomas Lovejoy. "Certainly drummed up a lot of memories. Knowing what he went through."
Lovejoy has been in those same shoes: His K9 Bandit died after Lovejoy left him in a police car in 2007.
"He’s probably feeling a lot of remorse," Lovejoy says. "You’re dealing with a lot of guilt. Animals are part of our family when they live with us and we love them. When that happens, you’re dealing with an extraordinary amount of guilt too."
But unlike Curry’s case, Lovejoy was charged with animal cruelty in Maricopa County. He was acquitted in court and remembers being suspended for a day or two by Chandler police.
"It’s one of those things where accidents can happen," he says. "I think it’s important for people to know we are human. We do make mistakes and that our departments hold us accountable."
As for Curry’s punishment, Lovejoy says it sounds fair.
"It seems to me from looking at it that that’s fair. Having that happen - it’s not right and it shouldn’t just go away."
Maricopa Police Department's internal investigation found that Curry violated their code of conduct by not properly using his police vehicle or equipment.
Records show he didn’t have the pager designed to prevent situations like that with him when he left Ike in the car.
Lovejoy explains it would be difficult to always keep the K9 out of the car.
"It’s hard. Because a day-to-day thing as an officer you never know where you’re going to end up. You're with your car and your dog. You can’t always take them into the grocery store or lunch or things like that."
Maricopa Police Department says Ike’s death was preventable and plans to do more trainings and inspections going forward.
As for Lovejoy, he now works in computer crimes for Chandler police. He's forever haunted by what happened and hopes people have compassion for Curry.
"I had a lot of support from the community. A lot of people hate me, too. The important thing is we just press forward."