Many mourn loss of police dog
January 8, 2011
O’Fallon, MO
The O’Fallon, MO Police Department is announcing the passing of K-9 Dar on Wednesday, December 29, 2010 at 1730 hours He was a retired police canine. He was more than just a dog; he was a very valued member of the O’Fallon Police Department for 4 years until he retired on October 1st of 2008.
K-9 Dar was a true friend to his K-9 handler, Officer Bob Schoonover. Officer Schoonover remembers K-9 Dar as doing his job to assist and protect without complaint. The two spent more time together during their working years than Officer Schoonover spent with the rest of his family. His son Christian used to tell him how lucky they were to have Dar, because none of his friends could say they had a police dog in their home.
Officer Schoonover and K-9 Dar began their work together with the Missouri State Highway Patrol on February 1st of 2000. In 2003, Officer Schoonover came to work at the O’Fallon Police Department. During their partnership they found over 5000 pounds of marijuana, 1000 pounds of cocaine, several meth labs and heroin The two of them had numerous successful tracks, finding murder suspects, drug dealers and even missing persons.
At the O’Fallon Police Department, K-9 Dar’s first task in 2004 was apprehending 2 out of 3 carjackers that were on a rampage from Tennessee. The two of them located the first suspect in minutes and worked an additional 5 hours to apprehend the last suspect. Officer Schoonover considers their most important call at the O’Fallon Police Department when they saved a little girl’s life in 2006. She had taken too many pills and lay lifeless by a frozen creek. K-9 Dar’s sense of urgency saved her when she was literally minutes from dying.
K-9 Dar finished out his working career with hundreds of dog demos, being available for the police open house and his favorite, Safety Town. He will be missed and remembered for all of his hard work during his police K-9 career.
From the O’Fallon Police Department
Copyright 2011 Neighbors About Town
