Still ‘the right decision’: After Nampa K-9 dies, agency considers policy on police chases
On a September night in Nampa, Officer Cody Huss, with his K-9, Riddick, in his backseat, ended up first in line in a police chase to pursue the suspect of a drug crime.
After spotting the suspect’s vehicle in a Walmart parking lot, Huss tailed the car for five miles, at times topping 80 mph, and tried twice to stop the vehicle by forcing it sideways. But the second time, the driver rammed Huss’ vehicle, Nampa Police Lieutenant Brad Childers told the Idaho Statesman. Huss’ car went airborne, hit a culvert and rolled four times in a corn field off Polara Way and Ustick Road, Nampa police said.
Riddick, a 3-year-old German shepherd, died. Huss and the suspect were injured.
Prompted by the dog’s death, Nampa police said they’re considering an update to their policies to say that the K-9’s vehicle should be third in line during police chases.
Typically, police departments try to keep the vehicle with their K-9 further back during a chase, so if the suspect runs, the dog is in a good spot to chase them, according to multiple Treasure Valley police agencies. Nampa police said they trained this way.
Huss’ vehicle with Riddick was second in line when the pursuit began. But an officer driving ahead of him tried unsuccessfully to stop the suspect with a precision immobilization technique (PIT) maneuver, which left Huss in front.
The policy would still allow the K-9 vehicle to be first in line if the situation calls for it — for example, if a drunk driver needed to be stopped immediately, and the K-9 was the first officer there, said Childers, who supervises the K-9 unit. When asked whether there would be consequences for not following the potential new guidelines, Childers said the professional standards officer would evaluate whether the officer’s actions were justified. Nampa police declined a request for an interview with Huss.
“We want other officers to realize that if we can keep the K-9 unit further back, then we’ll do that,” Childers told the Statesman at Nampa police headquarters. “We don’t get to dictate what the suspect chooses to do. … You never say never. There’s moments where that K-9 absolutely would have to be the primary one.”
Nampa police pursue drug suspect
Just before 6 p.m. that day, Nampa dispatch received a call from the sister of a 27-year-old man on parole. She had found out from his Facebook that he was planning to meet with someone at a Walmart to sell drugs, according to a probable cause affidavit. The sister told law enforcement he’d be in a Dodge vehicle.
Police spotted the Dodge in the parking lot and started to set up a perimeter, Childers said. The caller’s brother was inside the Walmart, the suspect later told police.
But a 33-year-old woman inside the Dodge saw the police and drove off, according to Childers and the probable cause affidavit.
Nampa police tried to initiate a traffic stop, but the woman kept driving, prompting officers to pursue her. Huss was one of two cars that followed the woman out of the parking lot.
Childers said he wasn’t sure how the vehicles switched places after the first officer unsuccessfully attempted a PIT maneuver. Nampa police denied records requests for the police report and the dash camera footage, citing exemptions for records that would interfere with law enforcement proceedings. But Huss did not have any dash camera footage, according to the request denial. Childers said Nampa police didn’t have the budget to outfit older vehicles with dash cameras.
Police said they were prepared to lay down spike strips after a third attempt. But in that final attempt of a PIT maneuver, the woman rammed Huss’ vehicle, according to Childers and a news release at the time.
The back window, where K-9 Riddick was, peeled down. Police said they believe Riddick was ejected through the window.
Nampa police received messages about the dog’s death from all over the country, Childers said. In one email, a hopeful police applicant who once went on a ridealong with Huss and Riddick emailed Huss to express his condolences.
“I was lucky enough to meet yourself and K-9 Riddick and see both of you working together,” he wrote in the email, which the Statesman obtained through a records request. “I am sorry for what happened, and I’m glad I got to see you both in action.”
Childers said he believes the dog cage saved Huss’ life. The cage was one of the only things that stayed together, preventing the car from smashing Huss, who ended up with a concussion and lacerations, Childers said.
During the crash, the 33-year-old woman’s car also rolled. She was taken to the hospital and later released into police custody, according to a news release at the time. The male suspect was found later at a local gas station across the street from the Walmart.
Police found meth and fentanyl in her car, they alleged in court documents. The male suspect told police he went to sell the fentanyl on behalf of the woman who drove the vehicle off, but the customer didn’t like the price. He was charged with possession of a controlled substance with the intent to deliver and a persistent violator enhancement, both felonies, according to court records.
The woman ended up with a laundry list of charges, including drug charges, assault or battery upon certain personnel with an aggravated enhancement, killing or mistreating a police dog, and fleeing from officers.
“We’re pretty aggressive as an agency saying that drugs are very dangerous for our community,” Childers said. “And that we want to stop that.”
“I still feel like he made the right decision on attempting the PIT,” Childers added.
K-9s are ‘most important less-lethal tool’
When it’s time to select a new dog, officers go down to a business called Top Dog Police K9 in California.
At that point, the dog knows only how to bite. It costs $10,000 to buy the untrained dog and, on average, 10 weeks to get the K-9 and handler trained, Childers said. There is a certification for apprehension and drug detection, he said, and both tests require the dog to get a perfect score.
Riddick was trained in apprehension and drug detection, according to previous Statesman reporting. On average, he was used between 25-30 times a month, Childers said, and not just in Nampa.
These dogs are valuable.
“It’s also the most important less-lethal tool that we use,” Childers said. “It’s the only thing we can tell ‘go’ and have it come back.”
But the reason departments keep the K-9 car back in a pursuit has to do with physics, police said. PIT maneuvers stop another car from moving. The car that attempts the PIT often continues moving past the stopped car. Nampa police prefer that the K-9 car is third in line, Childers said.
If the suspect gets out and runs, the K-9 officer can let the dog out of a car further back to continue the chase. The K-9s are “the world’s best at hide and seek,” Childers said.
Nampa has no speed limit for PIT maneuvers
PIT maneuvers across the country killed at least 30 people and injured hundreds between 2016 and 2020, according to the Washington Post, and many departments don’t track such data. Some agencies limit the use of PIT maneuvers at high speeds, and some don’t use it at all.
Nampa police do not have a set speed limit, Childers said, and have seen successful PITs attempted at 88 mph.
“We use the dog as a locating tool,” Meridian Police Department Captain Berle Stokes said. “Ideally, yes, we could put that K-9 car back to maybe second or third, but we don’t deal with ideal situations all the time, right?”
Mud cakes the side of Huss’ old car. There’s dirt inside the passenger seat. The glass is curving and cracked in the front. Spiderwebs stretch across the peeled down metal of the back window, the sun visor torn down from its perch. Over a month later, the vehicle was sitting at the city of Nampa’s fleet services shop.
The Nampa Police Department is looking at the bumpers on the cars to see whether there’s a way to prevent K-9 deaths in the future, Childers said.
Another Nampa K-9, Maverick, had to retire early, bringing the department down to 10, Childers told the Statesman. But by mid-November, Nampa police were on their way to California to get two more dogs.
This story was originally published December 2, 2024 at 4:00 AM.
CORRECTION: This story was updated after the Nampa police corrected their previous statements and said the agency is considering a policy change.
