Video shows Utah police dog Bruno injured after leaping from overpass
Footage released by police in Utah shows a bomb-detection dog, Bruno, jumping from a freeway overpass in September and suffering serious injuries. He is recovering at home.
Police in Park City, Utah, have this week released video of the moment a police dog named Bruno leapt from a freeway overpass in September and was seriously hurt. Bruno, a two-year-old chocolate labrador trained to detect explosives, is now recovering at home.
The incident happened while the dog was helping Utah state troopers check a suspicious package left at the roadside in Summit County. The location was near a ramp linking Interstate 80 and US 40. In the fall, Bruno broke two legs and fractured his jaw.
What the footage shows
The video comes from a dash camera and covers the moments before, during and after the fall. It also includes the 911 call and other material on the emergency response. Bruno is seen running after a ball thrown by his handler, officer Wayne Henderson, toward the package; the video describes this as a cue for the dog to start work. He then veers across the carriageway and jumps over a concrete wall.
A later scene shows Henderson comforting Bruno on the ground after the dog tried to stand. The recording ends with the dog being flown by helicopter to a veterinarian in Salt Lake City for emergency surgery.
A harmless package
A motorist had reported the package as suspicious. It turned out to be harmless road debris, a battery believed to have fallen from a vehicle.
Park City police chief Wade Carpenter said in a statement that Bruno is more than a police dog, describing him as a partner, a companion and part of the police family. He thanked the public for its support. It is not known whether Bruno will return to work. After the surgery, the department said he still had a long road to recovery.
