Tippecanoe Co. K-9 officer dies

TIPPECANOE CO., Ind. (WLFI) – An officer who served Tippecanoe County for nearly nine years has passed away.

His name was Arko and he was an 11-year-old Belgian Malinois.

He served alongside his handler, Tippecanoe County Dep. Donald Miller, from March 2006 to Dec. 31, 2014.

Miller says Arko was a part of countless drug arrests and criminal apprehensions. He even was a part of a story on K-9 officers that News 18 did in February 2013.

Just last year, Miller says Arko took first place in the K-9 Olympics in both tracking and vehicle narcotics.

But he says a tumor on Arko’s pancreas affected his blood sugar and he died at the Purdue Small Animal Hospital at 4:30 Friday morning.

Another retired K-9, West Lafayette’s Kay, died earlier this month.