Lake Co. Police Dogs Save 2 Stuck Outside In Cold

LAKE COUNTY, IL – Two different Lake County Sheriff's Office police dogs are being credited with saving the lives of a man and a boy who were left out in the cold weather over the weekend and were showing signs of hypothermia. The first incident occurred at about 4:25 p.m. Sunday when the Round Lake Beach Police Department requested assistance from the Lake County Sheriff's Office Canine Team, police said. The police department needed help finding a juvenile with a neurobehavioral condition who had been missing for about 40 minutes.

Police said the boy got out of his mother's vehicle in the area of Fairfield Road and Central Park Drive in Round Lake Beach and then fled on foot. With temps in the mid-30s, Lake County Sheriff's Office Deputy Craig Somerville and his K9 partner, Diesel, responded to the scene, according to a news release from the sheriff's office. Diesel immediately began tracking the scent of the boy.

The two tracked for about a half-mile to a drainage/water retention area where they found the boy who was stuck in waist-deep water and muck, according to authorities. The boy was very cold and showing signs of hypothermia.

Paramedics arrived and were able to pull the boy from the water. He was transported to a local hospital for treatment due to his exposure to the elements.

Later that day, at about 11:50 p.m., Lake County Sheriff's Office Deputy John Forlenza and his K9 partner, Dax, were called to attempt and track a missing 36-year-old man with a mental illness. The man was last seen at about 10 a.m. on Nov. 11 near a home in the 2400 block of Western Avenue in Waukegan.

K9 Dax located the scent of the missing man and tracked for about a quarter-mile to a school in the 1400 block of Montesano Avenue in Waukegan. The man was found unresponsive on a bench near a baseball diamond at about 1:45 a.m. The temperature at the time was in the low 30s and the man was showing signs of hypothermia.

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Paramedics arrived and transported the man to a local hospital due to his exposure to the elements, authorities said.

The police dogs and their deputies got a nod from Lake County's top cop on Monday.

“I am very proud of our canine teams. In just one day, Deputy Somerville & Canine Diesel along with Deputy Forlenza & Canine Dax saved two lives," Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran said. "If it weren’t for the dedication, experience, and quick actions of our canine teams, these two situations likely would have ended in tragedy.”

PHOTO CAPTION: Lake County Sheriff's Office Deputy Craig Somerville and his K9 partner, Diesel, responded to the scene, according to a news release from the sheriff's office. Diesel immediately began tracking the scent of the boy/PHOTO CREDIT: Lake County Sheriff's Office