SAN DIEGO — A San Diego police K-9 was recovering at home Monday after being stabbed in the chest Friday morning. The dog’s handler spoke to News 8 about the stabbing incident and his loyal animal.
“He’s doing well. Aside from some hair missing on his chest and his side and a couple stitches, you wouldn't even be able to tell. He's doing well,” said SDPD K-9 Officer Mitch Tani.
The 2-year-old Belgian Malinois named Hondo is recovering from two stab wounds after taking down a suspect allegedly armed with a knife in the Midway area.
“Luckily, the angle at which the knife punctured mostly got muscle. It didn't hit anything major, nothing vital,” said Officer Tani.
Police said Dedrick Jones, 35, resisted arrest, jumped on a vehicle, and came towards officers while armed with the knife before Tani released the K-9.
“Hondo did exactly what he was trained to do. He went on the bite. He bit and held Mr. Jones. He was not deterred in the least bit while Mr. Jones stabbed and attempted to stab at him multiple times,” recalled Tani.
In January, Jones stabbed a different SDPD canine named Titan and nearly killed him. Jones was sentenced to a year in jail.
“I was not aware at the time that this was the same suspect. I learned that after the fact, after he was identified, but Hondo was lucky and Titan was lucky as well,” said Tani.
K-9 Hondo has lived with Officer Tani for the past year.
“The dogs are not mean dogs by any means. They don't want to just indiscriminately bite people,” Tani said.
Officers shot Jones with a beanbag round before they were able to get the knife away from him, according to a statement released by SDPD.
Tani said Hondo did not yelp when he was stabbed.
“I mean, much like humans their adrenalin goes through the roof. They want to work. They have that drive. They have that work ethic. So, he may have realized that Jones was trying to do something to him, but he was so ready to work, so eager to work for me, that he wasn't going to be deterred. No matter what was going to happen to him and his personal safety, he was going to make sure and do the job that I was asking him to do,” said Officer Tani.
Hondo will be recovering over the holidays. He's expected to be back on the job in a couple weeks.
Dedrick Jones is set to be arraigned Tuesday on felony assault with a deadly weapon and resisting arrest charges, as well as misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty and assaulting a police dog.
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