Jul 19, 2008 10:39 pm US/Eastern
BSO K9 Killed By Bullets From Police, Not Suspect
Police Report: Oozi Got Into The Line Of Fire While Apprehending Suspect
Memorial For Oozi On Wednesday At Cooper City High School
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
A memorial service will be held next week for a slain Broward Sheriff's Office K-9 dog that officials now say was killed by bullets from police and not the suspect.
The memorial for Oozi, the 7 year old Belgian Malinois, will be held Wednesday afternoon at Cooper City High School. The police dog was fatally shot Thursday morning during pursuit of a suspect.
Officers followed the suspect, 27-year-old Delvin Lewis, to Miami Beach after they received a call about shots being fired in the 300 block of NE 35th Court in Broward County. When deputies arrived on the scene, Lewis' ex-girlfriend, Michael Taylor said Lewis had fired several shots at her during an argument and then took off.
Deputies spotted Lewis on I-95 and he led them on a chase into Miami-Dade County, which ended in the parking lot of Mt. Sinai Medical Center. According to a police report, Lewis made ''a reaching motion toward the floorboard, as if attempting to retrieve a handgun,'' and that's when BSO deputies and a Miami-Dade police officer opened fire. Oozi had already been let loose to help apprehend Lewis but entered the line of fire and was fatally wounded.
According to the Miami-Dade arrest report released on Friday, police did not find a gun in Delvin Lewis' car.
Lewis was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital for non-life threatening injuries. He has been charged with aggravated assault with a motor vehicle on a law enforcement officer; aggravated fleeing and eluding; resisting an officer with violence; and principal in the death of a police dog, which is a felony.
Oozi and his handler, Deputy Jerry Wengert, received employee of the month honors in May 2008 for their apprehension of burglary suspects that tried running them over.
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CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald contributed material for this report)
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