Las Vegas police dog wounded on duty honored by City Council

There was something unique about the Metropolitan Police Department member who was honored inside City Hall on Wednesday: He has four legs.

Hunter, the Belgian Malinois patrol dog, was awarded a hero’s medal by the City Council for the K-9’s actions to bring down an armed suspect in October. Hunter was stabbed at least three times on the side of his neck but refused to let go of the suspect.

After emergency surgery following the Oct. 26 barricade, where Joseph Arquilla allegedly tried to stab the dog 13 times, Hunter started the recovery process for his injuries. The Metropolitan Police Department shared photographs of Hunter at the time with a white bandage around his shaved throat area.

“Less than a month later, Hunter is back on the streets, fighting bad guys,” said Councilwoman Michele Fiore, who presented the medal around the muzzled K-9’s shoulders and hugged his handler, K-9 officer Jeff Corbett.

Hunter was with Corbett just after 12:30 a.m. on Oct. 26 when an employee at 7-Eleven, located at 7311 S. Eastern Ave., called 911 to report a man climbing the roof. The suspect refused for about four hours to come down, threatening to hurt himself and others, despite pleas from crisis negotiators, according to the police report and Fiore’s presentation.

When Arquilla finally did climb down, he faced officers with a knife in hand and refused to drop it, police said. Officers used a less-than-lethal weapon, firing a rubber bullet, and then sent Hunter to apprehend the suspect. But after the K-9 bit his left arm, the suspect stabbed the dog multiple times – breaking the knife in the process, Fiore said.

SWAT officers on scene moved in to save Hunter and handcuff the suspect as the dog was treated for injuries.

Contact Shea Johnson at sjohnson@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272. Follow @Shea_LVRJ on Twitter.