‘He brought us to the bad guy’: K-9 Deputy Cane helps arrest shoplifting suspect in Martin County
On his first day back after ACL surgery, Martin County K-9 Deputy Cane tracked and apprehended a shoplifting suspect, highlighting the critical role of K-9 units in law enforcement.
STUART, Fla. —
A Martin County K-9 deputy named Cane helped apprehend a shoplifting suspect on his first day back at work after recovering from ACL surgery.
Sheriff John Budensiek said dogs like Cane are an extra set of eyes and ears on the scene and help deputies quickly resolve situations.
“It was our first day back to work. He was very excited, and he did great,” said Alex Mercado, a Martin County deputy sheriff in the K-9 unit. “He showed zero signs of any kind of weakness or being slow on the jaw or anything like that.”
After months of recovery, Cane tracked down 48-year-old Christopher Santiago, who investigators said was trying to flee into the woods near a Lowe’s store after stealing a grill and other expensive items.
On his first day back after ACL surgery, Martin County K-9 deputy Cane tracked and apprehended a shoplifting suspect, highlighting the critical role of K-9 units in law enforcement.
“It was probably within the first 25, 30 seconds he caught the odor. He showed me a really nice change in behavior, sent me an alert, similar to reverting back to our training where we are taught these by our corporal, who harps on this part. These portions of trainings he isn’t going through the motions,” Mercado said.
Cane began tracking Santiago’s scent in the area where he was last seen and found him minutes later, biting him in the chest.
“Those are moments where I trusted him and gave him the lead, and he brought us to the bad guy,” Mercado said.
Cane is trained for narcotics and patrol work, and Budensiek emphasized the importance of K-9 units in multiple arrests and investigations.
“They can see, smell and hear things we can’t. When they show up on scene, they are an extra set of eyes and ears. But they’re so much more dialed in than we are, and then they’re trained. I mean, this dog’s an hour and a half behind our suspect but can pick up scent and track right to where the suspect is and apprehend them,” Budensiek said.
Mercado added that they spend numerous hours a week training for scenarios like these.
“We go through our canine school, and then we have weekly trainings that are super important. Every Wednesday, we get together, and the way that we conduct our trainings is we want to make it as real life as possible. We want them to believe it’s the real thing; that way, when it comes time, it’s nothing out of the ordinary for them.”
Budensiek added that in this case, neither Mercado nor other investigators saw Santiago hiding in the bushes, but Cane did.
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“So, not only is he protecting our deputies that are out there working the streets, but he’s also protecting our citizens, and he’s saving us a lot of time and resources, coupled with the fact that, had we not had the K-9 out there, we would have packed up and left, assuming that our suspect had already left and wasn’t in the area,” Budensiek said.
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Santiago is facing charges of grand theft and resisting arrest without bond.
As for Cane, Mercado said the K-9 received a treat for his successful arrest.
“We played a little bit. He got some raw food. That’s his favorite thing, and then it’s right back to work. … We worked the rest of our shift. He just wants to work, and the reward for him is work.”