INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, Fla.-- An Indian River County K-9 partner is back on the job after a few days off following a strange traffic stop over the weekend.
K-9 Doc and Deputy Shane Joerger are rarely apart. They were on patrol late Friday night when they were called to backup a fellow deputy who had made a traffic stop off 26th Street near 74th Avenue.
"Dark road, only thing to see is my police car lit up with emergency lights," recalled Deputy Joerger Monday.
As that driver was being written up for DUI by Deputy Joerger, he saw another vehicle approaching his, and fast.
“I was able to get his attention enough. He hit brakes right before he hit my truck, so rather than the impact being directly on the back, he went underneath the truck," said Joerger.
But in the back of the deputy's truck, was Doc.
“Initially I gave him a once over, he seemed like he was OK, so I went back to the driver and began addressing him.”
Then, in the midst of all that’s happening, a third driver approaches the scene.
“Drove around marked patrol cars, drove through the crash scene, and he was also intoxicated," said Deputy Joerger.
Three DUI cases over one traffic stop.
Afterward, Joerger could tell Doc wasn't being his usual playful self, so he asked his supervisor for Doc to have the weekend off. It seems to have done the trick as Doc engages in a tug-of-war with Joerger and is back on patrol.