The La Porte County Sheriff’s Office announces the retirement of 12-year-old K-9 Hokie, effective April 1. Since May of 2008, Hokie has provided a loyal and dedicated service for the Sheriff’s Office and citizens of La Porte County. Hokie and his handler, Deputy Andrew Hahn, had a successful career that included 55 public demonstrations and approximately 1,000 grams of suspected narcotics seized during traffic enforcement on La Porte County roadways. In addition, Hokie had several criminal apprehensions.During his last shift this past weekend, Hokie assisted with the seizure of suspected methamphetamine ultimately leading to a criminal arrest. Hokie will relax and enjoy retirement with the Hahn family in rural La Porte County.
Hokie’s retirement left a brief vacancy in the K-9 Division. Wasting no time, Captain Dallas Smythe (K-9 Division Commander) and Deputy Hahn traveled to Vohne Liche Kennels in Denver, Indiana on Tuesday (04/02) to select a new K-9. Captain Smythe and Deputy Hahn viewed several K-9’s before selecting the newest member of the Sheriff’s Office, Miko, a 22-month-old Belgian Malinois from Ukraine.
Miko is a dual purpose, apprehension and narcotics detection K-9. Deputy Hahn and Miko are currently bonding together and will be attending a training course together.Miko was purchased with monies received from public donations not resulting in the use of any tax dollars or at any our additional cost to the taxpayers of La Porte County. The generous donations are an example of the strong partnership that the citizens of La Porte County share with the Sheriff’s Office. With the addition of Miko, the Sheriff’s Office has four K-9’s assigned to the Patrol Division.