NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
May 29, 2008
Contact: Michele Nicholson
Public Information Officer
(850) 651-7420
OCSO K-9 TEAM WINS
NATIONAL AWARD
Deputy Jim Duval and K-9 "Tyson"
A
Deputy with the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office and his K-9 partner have been
awarded the “Top Detector Case of the Year” for 2007 by the United States Police
Canine Association.
Deputy Jim
Duval and K-9 “Tyson” were recognized by the national organization for their
work on a narcotics bust April 2, 2007. The team was called to the corner of
Sullivan and Audrey Streets by the Fort Walton Beach Police Department’s Street
Crimes Unit, which had pulled over a suspicious work truck.
In the
back of the truck was a lot of industrial machinery that made it difficult for
K-9 Tyson to pinpoint the source of the drug odor, but Deputy Duval says the
dog’s actions left no doubt there were drugs in the truck.
Investigators were able to take the vehicle to the impound yard. A thorough
search turned up 52 kilos of cocaine and 480 pounds of marijuana, one of the
largest narcotics seizures ever along the Emerald Coast.
At a news
conference Thursday, Sheriff Charlie Morris praised Deputy Duval and K-9 Tyson
for their work in helping take the massive amount of narcotics off the streets.
Fort Walton Beach Police Chief Ted Litschauer called the case a prime example of
how the good working relationship between the two agencies reaps crime-fighting
benefits.
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