Apopka police officer reassigned after K9 attacks another dog

An Apopka police dog handler is being reassigned after his dog attacked and seriously injured another, smaller dog, the department said.

Officer Kenyon Friedline was doing some training with his K-9 partner, Jett, near his home on Sept. 3, an internal investigation said. He thought the area was locked and no one else could get inside, he told investiators.

Jett ran around the corner where Friedline could not see him and heard another dog bark. Jett attacked the smaller dog, Flacka, biting her torso and slamming her to the ground, the report said.

Her owners had to take her to an emergency vet where she went into emergency surgery and received several stitches, according to the report.

The investigation concluded that Friedline should have picked a more secure area to do the training and needed to obtain more information about what happened to Flacka so his superiors could address the situation.

“The tragic incident involving injuries to the dog owned by the Gallegos family are unfortunate and actions are being taken to minimize the opportunity for events like this to happen in the future,” said Deputy Chief Randy Fernandez.

Friedline will also receive an additional punishment, which is still to be determined, Fernandez said.

Jett is being assigned to another officer and Flacka is doing well, Fernandez said.