A Hialeah Police officer whose K-9 partners died after they were left in his patrol vehicle won't face charges, the Broward State Attorney's Office announced Tuesday.
According to investigators, Officer Nelson Enriquez had just finished an overnight shift when he parked his marked police vehicle outside his Davie home on May 27. He later realized that he left the dogs inside the vehicle, but it was too late.
"Jimmy," a 7-year-old Bloodhound, and "Hector," a 4-year-old Belgium Malinois, were found dead.
Enriquez, a 13-year veteran of the department who has been a K-9 handler for the past seven years, was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
Court documents showed Enriquez was called back into work after the overnight shift to search for a missing child. When he went home later in the day, he left the dogs inside the vehicle and went to sleep. He woke up a couple hours later and made the tragic discovery.
Necropsies showed the dogs died of hyperthermia, or overheating, the documents said.
The vehicle had an emergency warning system that would have cooled the dogs when the temperatures rose, but the system only works when the keys are in the ignition, the documents said.
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Though a detective noted that the death of the dogs is attributed to "neglectful conduct" by Enriquez, there was no evidence to show he intentionally left them in the vehicle to die, the documents said.
"There is no evidence to support this ghoulish proposition," the state attorney's office said in the filing.
Hialeah Police said Enriquez is still working in administrative duties. Their internal investigation into the incident continues.
