State Police Dog Helps Save Troubled Mansfield Man

MANSFIELD, MA — Neko, a state police dog was recognized as a hero for helping officers find a man threatening to harm himself.

Around 2:00 a.m., Friday, Mansfield Police tried finding a man who after arguing with his family, ran away from his house and started threatening to hurt himself. The man's family told officers they saw him run out the backdoor, but did not see which way he ran. Mansfield officers then asked for help from state police and requested a police dog.

State trooper Dan Purtell arrived shortly after with Neko. Neko was brought to the backyard. State police said it did not take the police dog long to find the man's scent. Police said Neko followed that scent for quite sometime.

"Neko tracked from the backyard, into a neighbor’s yard, around the house and out onto a road, state police said in a statement. "Neko tracked along this road for over one-mile into neighboring Foxborough."

According to police, Neko then temporarily lost the man's scent, so the team turned around to reacquire it. When Purtell and Mansfield Officer Michael Fitzgerald circled back to a side street, they saw a man on the opposite side of the road. Police said he was near the woods and trying to hide.

The man cooperated with police and was transported by a Foxborough ambulance to the hospital for evaluation.