The examination finds Tombstone Marschall Deputy's actions “justified” in K-9 attack

Tombstone, Arizona (KGun) -AM November 19, 2024, John Coby, a member of the Tombstone Marshal's Office, was attacked by his K-9 partner Hawk more than 24 hours after the couple certified.

Coby shot Hawk to get him to stop. An investigation by the Cochise County Sheriff's Office (CCSO) showed that Coby's actions were “justified”.

Coby was hospitalized for his injuries, including wounds on their arm and leg.

KGun received a copy of the CCSO investigation report. The report was completed in January, but not many details about the incident were published. One of the missing details was the conclusion of the Tombstone K-9 program.

According to the report, “Hawk was still clamped to the ankle of the deputy Coby and the jaw had to be opened openly to release his handle.” The report showed that Coby called a colleague to help him because he “was about to get out”.

Coby shot Hawk in his head to get the dog from him. During the entire report, Coby tells the investigators that he tried to distract the dog with a toy and spray it with the fresh air- that was in the bathroom when the attack took place and then used his weapon as the last way out.

According to the report, Coby was given by the Knightwatch K9 Hawk company. Constance Baker is the owner of the company, who is also the representative of the Marshal's office.

TMO received several K-9 from the company, which also trained the narcotics dogs. Baker was one of two Knightwatch K9 coaches to train K-9 officials for departments across the state.

During the 61-page report, Baker said Hawk never showed signs of aggression. His careful personality was one of the reasons why she combined him with Coby.

Hawk had unknown to her and had a story of biting. His original owner with the border patrol of the United States had him in a training program. He was released from the program because he bitten his handler and caused serious injuries.

According to the report, Constance also described that she felt comfortable to accept Hawk, because if he was thrown for an attack from the Border Patrol program, Hawk would have been put to sleep. “

In the report, the investigators gave the Hawk border police to a seller who claimed to have signed an NDA who then gave Baker and her company the dog.

Baker, who received Hawk from the seller and was not aware of the past of Hawk. Cochise County Sheriff Detective Jesical Luna asked the seller if she shared Hawk's story with Baker and Knightwatch K9, and they said “No, probably not”.

According to the report, Baker had confrontations with Coby about how he was dealing with Hawk, especially when he was at home. In the report, Baker explained to the investigators how working dogs should not be treated like pets.

The investigator wrote: “You come from the kennel to work. Malinois takes time to adapt when you go home. You are not at the same level as her personal dog. She spoke to Coby about how the dog licked him in the face.”

Hawk was Coby's third K-9 partner. The first dog was considered in another TMO MP after use. Then Baker told the investigators that she gave Coby a dog named Caine. She took him away after it bitten Coby during a training session.

According to the report, the investigators found out: “Deputy Coby was persistent with Caine before he was bitten … Baker advised that she removed Caine from his possession when he believed that the deputy coby was afraid of Caine.”

The report continued: “Coby was described as a fear of K-9 and often did the actions of a K-9.”

After the incident of November 19, an employee of the city of Tombstone wrote a letter in which Coby “swallowed the K-9” when she asked that they told the investigators to “have a aggressively thrown on the K-9 neck, which caused it to be lifted off the ground”.

The bites that Coby suffered from November 19, 2024 was not the first time that he was bitten. According to the report, “said Constance in the Tombstone City Yard, John had a white cloth on his arm.

Baker said John told her when Hawk caught John's arm instead. Constance said John that he should tell Sergeant Garcia. She remembered John because he didn't want Hawk to be taken away. “

The former Marshal Jim Adams told investigators Coby told him a K-9 handler, and after a while he decided to give him the opportunity. Coby received his handler certification twice, both in the Marshal office.

Knightwatch K9 usually runs an 80-hour training course for K-9 handler and drug detection dogs. In the report, Baker informed the investigators, “The course should take 80 hours, but Marshal Jim Adams demanded that he will be reduced to 40. Baker gave Coby on November 9, 2024 HAWK.

They were certified on November 18, 2024. Another K-9 handler was in the certification class with Coby and Hawk. They told the investigators “they seemed to have a good bond.” The investigators learned that 40 hours are not enough time for training and for K-9 and their handler for the binding for other traders.

The investigators learned that Baker was commissioned to create the policy of the department of what she had done and handed over the lead. She told the investigators that she didn't know whether it was complete.

The investigators asked Baker whether they or Knightwatch K9 had a record of training the dog and the past. She had no documentary about one of these things for one of the dogs.

The investigative reports showed that the case was sent to the public prosecutor's office of Cochise County.

On February 26, Coby's lawyer sent a claim to the city of Tombstone, the office of the Tombstone Marshal, Adams, Baker and others from the department.

A claim to claim is a letter in which the intention of a person is displayed to sue the specified parties.

The lawyer of Coby, Kim Eckert, sent Kgun the claim to the claim and the following explanation: “We look forward to pursuing justice for our client. … I have no other comments at that time.”

According to the notification, “this claim can be committed with 1,500,000 US dollars.”

The letter indicated that there should be a better system for dogs and when checking Knightwatch K9.

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