Sheriff's new bloodhound collars first suspect

PACE — It was a successful first day on the job for a new Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office bloodhound, Zinc. A traffic pursuit that started in front of Berryhill Elementary's school zone — with school zone lights activated — ended with Zinc finding the suspect in the Whisper Creek subdivision.

According to the arrest report, on Dec. 13, a Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office deputy observed a grey Dodge truck traveling fast and passing vehicles in the school zone. When the deputy turned to pursue the truck, the driver turned into the residential neighborhood and accelerated. The deputy immediately called off the pursuit due to safety reasons.

Following the truck, the deputy saw it had crashed into the woods. The suspect ran into the thick underbrush. Deputies arrived and came out of their vehicles with guns drawn, according to residents who witnessed the scene. Deputies called in the K-9 unit. Copper and Zinc, the now seven-month-old bloodhounds donated by a county jail captain and major to the sheriff's office were on their first tracking mission.

"It's the most exciting thing that has happened in this neighborhood," Jana Nixon, Whisper Creek resident, said.

Nixon and her husband Matthew came out of their house around 7:15 a.m. to take their children to school. Nixon has two sons and a daughter, part of a friend group of six between the ages of two and seven that live near each other on Integrity Court. When Nixon's children heard the noise and saw the lights and deputies they were beyond excited, she said. Her oldest son, Isaiah kept saying "eight cop cars," she said.

"We responded to the scene within 45 minutes of being called," Deputy Robert Lenzo said. He and Deputy Josh Chandler are the bloodhounds' handlers and they say were waiting for an opportunity to test their pups in real action.

Both Copper and Zinc went to the location but only Zinc tracked because he was "better suited to the terrain," Lenzo said. It is rare that both dogs would track simultaneously, according to Lenzo. They take both so one is fresh when the other dog wears out.

Lenzo said Zinc was ready to go, barking and howling as he got his command to track the suspect. It took Zinc about five minutes to find him under heavy brush about 30 yards away from the truck. Deputies arrested Noah Ryan, 18, of Milton without incident. He is charged with fleeing police, and two felony counts of vehicle theft.

Lenzo said the dogs are trained to search for human scent, not a specific persons' scent. When they track where humans have never been, they pick up the trail fast, he said.

This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Sheriff's new bloodhound collars first suspect