R.I.P. "Officer" Chase...You Will Be Missed (Part One Of Two)

Photo By John Hoff

This morning, I was at a friend's house and her dog barked, suddenly. It was his urgent bark, his "action on the block" bark. We looked out the window--just as we'd looked out the window a few days before and saw the "amubulatory urinator"--I tell ya, you never know what you're going to see when you just look out the window as our neighborhood undergoes radical, positive transformation slash revitalization.

In any case, we looked out the window and...

...the Hennepin County Sheriff's Department was making its move on a nearby house on Newton Ave. N. They had a cop with a dog in the back, (see photo, above) and two squads of officers in the front.

Now, before I go on with this story, I want to say a few words about "Officer" Chase, a brave police dog who went down in action a few days ago. The death of this dog saddened me and my friends. In fact, in the next hour, we're going to buy some flowers and a big ol' doggy bone to leave as a memorial to "Officer" Chase near the site of his death. We figure if thugs can leave memorials to their dead in public places, heck, we should leave some kind of memorial for this police dog.

When my friend gets sad about the dog--actually bursting into tears--all I can really say is that he died a warrior's death, and warriors go to Valhalla. Chase is in a good place, with other brave warriors who have gone before him.

So, well, just last night we were talking and drinking at "The Loop" bar, talking about "Officer" Chase and how we should get some flowers or something. And this morning a police dog mysteriously appears at a nearby house, bearing an uncanny resemblance to "Officer" Chase. My friend has never, ever seen police go back there with a dog, and she has lived here for seven years. So we figure, hey, it's like a sign. "Officer" Chase is still with us, still on patrol, still hunting down the bad guys.

We often credit the police and public officials for helping to clean up our neighborhood. Well, these police dogs are doing more than their fair share. Here's a public thank you to all the brave police dogs and their skilled handlers.

In regard to the Hennepin County officers who were busy on Newton Ave. N. this morning, they appeared to come up empty-handed. Based on what I observed, it was my suspicion they were looking for a fugitive.

But I'm confident that, eventually, they'll get their guy.