Sheriff's deputy suspended without pay after police dog dies in hot car
AUBURN, Ind. -- An Indiana sheriff's deputy has been suspended for 30 days following the death of a police dog that he left for hours inside a hot patrol car.
The DeKalb County Sheriff's Department said Deputy Courtney Fuller is suspended without pay for 30 days. The department said an investigation determined Fuller didn't commit a crime but that he violated employee standards of conduct.
Sheriff Don Lauer said Fuller left Mojo in his patrol car outside his home at 3 p.m. July 6. He was distracted by a situation involving his newborn child and forgot Mojo, finding him dead four hours later.
The police dog was taken to Purdue University for a necropsy to determine the cause of death. A preliminary report on July 19 said the cause of death was determined to be consistent with heat stroke, CBS affiliate WANE-TV in Ft. Wayne reports.
The department said Fuller will no longer be a canine handler.
"The DeKalb County Sheriff's Department regrets this tragic mistake and mourns the loss of one of its members," Lauer said earlier this month, WANE-TV reported.
DeKalb County is 150 miles northeast of Indianapolis.
