K9 Nero
End of Watch December 27th, 2003
K9 Nero, a German Shepherd, was born in the Czech Republic on February 3rd, 1998. He was later imported to the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office where he was paired with his partner, Deputy Gooler in September of 1999. Nero and Deputy Gooler participated in an intensive full-time training regimen to include obedience, handler protection, area searches, building searches and tracking. Nero and his handler were certified as a patrol canine team on January 9th, 2000.
During his career, Nero was involved in 394 felony arrest and was directly responsible for apprehended 78 criminals. While at work Nero was all business, but at home Nero was a gentle and playful pet who loved to interact with children.
In the early morning of December 23rd, 2003, Deputies at the Sacramento International Airport began pursuing a vehicle which was being operated in a reckless manner. The previous day, the National Alert Threat had been elevated to the second highest level, orange. The driver of the vehicle would later be identified as a parolee at large who had stolen the vehicle from an airport car rental agency.
While responding to the pursuit, Deputy Gooler's patrol vehicle was involved in a solo vehicle accident. K9 Nero was ejected from the vehicle and would later succumb to his injuries.