‘Call Life Flight’: Police release video of Park City K-9 jumping off freeway overpass in Utah
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Pat Reavy, KSL
Editor’s Note: The video above shows the K-9 jumping off the freeway overpass and may be difficult to watch. Viewer discretion is advised.
PARK CITY, Utah (KSL) — Park City police K-9 Bruno was off-leash and familiarizing himself with his surroundings on an empty overpass connecting U.S. 40 and I-80 when he unexpectedly jumped over the concrete barrier and fell onto the freeway below.
Bruno sustained two broken legs and a fractured jaw as a result of the fall. He was released from a veterinary hospital three days later and continues to recover at home.
Park City police released dash camera video of the incident on Wednesday.
The Park City Police Department also released a statement, saying it conducted both internal and independent reviews of the incident.
“(Utah Peace Officer Standards and Training) independent review determined ‘The officer deployed K-9 Bruno in accordance with standard POST K-9 tactics,'” according to the statement.
On Sept. 15, police responded to a report of a “suspicious object” on the shoulder of the flyover ramp connecting U.S. 40 and I-80 in Silver Summit.
“It looked like it had batteries wrapped around something with wires in it,” the man who reported the object told the 911 dispatcher in a recording of the call. The man says he has had “training with Homeland Security” and that the device looked “suspicious.”
Utah Highway Patrol troopers closed that portion of the road and responded along with Park City police. Summit County sheriff’s deputies also responded to fly a drone over the suspicious object to try and get a better look at it.
While waiting for the drone photo to be sent, Park City officer Wayne Henderson can be seen in dash-cam video letting Bruno off leash and tossing a ball for the K-9 to fetch, which police say is also a way for the dog to “familiarize himself with his surroundings.”
A photo shows the object has blue cylinders, but it remains unidentifiable. At that point, Henderson and Bruno get back into Henderson’s police vehicle to drive closer to the object.
Henderson parks his vehicle some distance away from the unknown object and he and Bruno get out. In dashcam video, Henderson again tosses a ball for Bruno to retrieve and says, “find it.” According to police, this signals Bruno to “go to work.”
“This type of visual/audio cue is part of standard K-9 training that mixes work, play, and reward, as Bruno would be given the ball after completing his job,” police commentary added to the video says.
After moving toward the ball, Bruno unexpectedly moves toward the concrete barrier separating the flyover from eastbound I-80 below and jumps over.
The video shows Henderson throwing the dog’s leash, looking over the edge, and running back to his vehicle to drive to Bruno.
“We have a dog down,” someone says over the police radio.
“Call Life Flight. Call Life Flight,” Henderson is heard yelling in the video.
He drives to Bruno, who can’t stand on his front legs. Henderson provides comfort and stops Bruno from trying to stand up. In the video, he is seen completely blanketing the dog by getting on his knees and leaning over him to comfort him, and later lying down next to him.
An ambulance arrives nine minutes later to take Bruno to the landing zone for a medical helicopter, and Bruno is loaded onto a stretcher. He was flown to Med Vet in Salt Lake City.
“As this video shows, this was an unfortunate incident that occurred during a serious law enforcement response,” Park City Police Chief Wade Carpenter said in a prepared statement. “Bruno is more than a police K-9. He’s a partner, a companion and part of our police family. From the moment he was injured, officer Henderson and fellow first responders did everything they could to comfort Bruno and get him the care he needed. We’re grateful for the outpouring of support for Bruno and his handler as he continues to recover.”
The Utah Highway Patrol dispatched another dog to the scene after Bruno was attended to and determined the suspicious object was a car battery that had fallen off another vehicle and broken apart, according to police.
