Marshall County Patrolman Andrew Wozniak and his K9 Partner Irok were recognized by Sheriff Matt Hassel on Thursday.
Officer Wozniak was commended for his efforts in assisting with an FBI investigation last year. Back on September 2nd, 2017, Officer Wozniak initiated a traffic stop on a black 2000 Toyota Solara for a lane violation and improper registration in the area of US 30 and Tulip Road around 3:15 a.m.
While running the driver’s information, Wozniak was alerted that the person could have potentially been on a watch list for suspicious activity in the past.
Wozniak reported, “There’s information that we receive when we run somebody in our computers by their name and date of birth and if we get this information it says to call this place which is the Terrorist Screening Watch Center [out of Washington, D.C.]”
Wozniak reportedly noticed a number of strange circumstances with the traffic stop and since he was not a canine handler at the time, he requested assistance from a Starke County Sheriff’s Department officer who brought their dog to the scene. The K9 indicated the presence of narcotics.
However, rather than finding drugs, more than 15 apple smartphones were located as well as other suspicious items. The information was collected and the driver was released. Wozniak noted that trained dogs can pick up on the scent of drugs that were previously in a vehicle so that’s likely what the animal sensed when it alerted the officers to the presence of a narcotic.
A continued investigation led Wozniak to contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Philadelphia, the state where the driver was residing. The FBI’s investigation resulted in the suspect being taken into federal custody and deported to his country of origin. A specific country was not given but he was apparently from Central America.
For his outstanding assistance, Wozniak was given a certificate of recognition from FBI Director Christopher A. Wray.
Though it was dated retroactively to September 2017, Sheriff Hassel took a moment to officially present the certificate on Thursday. He also noted that an accommodation of this kind has never been presented to a member of the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department before.
In addition to the presentation, some information was shared about the force’s K9 Irok. Sheriff Hassel said even though the dog has already been working in the field for the last several months, there was never a public introduction.
Members of the media were invited to take some photos and learn more about Irok in order to give the community a chance to meet him, especially since many local donors helped fund the purchase and training costs.
Irok is a high-energy Belgian Malinois originally from the country of Hungary. Wozniak shared that the 2-year-old canine was selected from Vohne Liche Kennels back in March. The two trained together at the facility in Denver, Indiana for three weeks.
Wozniak explained, “Irok can detect the odors of marijuana, methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin. Also, he can track so if we have a fleeing suspect or lost child in a cornfield or something like that, he can track the footsteps and find somebody.”
The officer added that he’s required to train with the dog for at least 16 hours each month. He said he typically spends about 30 minutes to an hour training with him every day to keep his sniffer up to snuff.
Since being on the job with Wozniak over the last 6 months, Irok has assisted with 25 to 30 cases where he’s successfully indicated the presence of a narcotic.
When the canine isn’t helping bust bad guys, he lives with Andrew and his wife of nearly 7 years, Sarah and their three children Brooke, Cooper and Harper.
