South Jersey sergeant charged for leaving dogs in hot car, resulting in their deaths, prosecutors say

A law enforcement officer in New Jersey is facing charges after he allegedly left two K-9s in his police vehicle for several hours, leading to their deaths. 

Cody Henderson, a sergeant and K-9 handler with the Salem County Sheriff's Office, faces multiple animal cruelty charges in connection with the deaths of two K-9s, Rip and Boomer, who he allegedly left in a hot car in May, according to an announcement Tuesday from the Salem County Prosecutor's Office.

Henderson found the dogs dead in his police vehicle and took them to an animal hospital in Delaware, prosecutors say.

The investigation revealed that Henderson left the dogs unattended in a sheriff's office vehicle for about seven hours without appropriate ventilation or care on May 29, according to a news release from the prosecutor's office. The car was turned off, so an emergency alert system was not activated, and Henderson did not put the animals in indoor kennels that were "immediately available" at the time, the release says. 

Rip was a 4-year-old patrol and narcotics-detection dog with the sheriff's office for nearly three years. Boomer, age 6, was a bomb detection dog for the past five years.

The high temperature in Salem on May 29 was 81 degrees, National Weather Service records show.

A veterinarian with the New Jersey Animal Health Diagnostic Laboratory ruled the deaths as likely heat stroke, the criminal complaint says. Video evidence and key fob logs show Henderson did not leave the Salem County courthouse for several hours that day, and documents indicate the vehicle had been flagged for an air conditioning problem, according to the complaint. 

Residents were dismayed and demanded an explanation when the sheriff's office announced the deaths.

When the dogs died, the sheriff's office immediately turned the matter over to prosecutors, the department told CBS News Philadelphia in June. Henderson is suspended from duty pending the outcome of the criminal proceedings and internal investigation, the sheriff's office said.