It’s July. The heat index is almost 100 degrees.
The bodycam video we first showed you Friday, September 6, 2019 shows Kahn, a Tulsa Police K9 officer panting as he awaits orders from his handler to search a house to help find a felony suspect.
The suspect, Tyvon Mumphrey is wanted on several charges according to K9 Training Officer, Sgt. Ryan Woods, “He had warrants out for his arrest for an armed robbery carjacking of 2 women and I believe during that case during the carjacking he actually threw a 2-year old child out of the vehicle.”
Woods told 2 Works For You, officers had repeatedly called for Mumphrey to come out. When he did not, officers sent in Kahn, his handler and a back-up officer.
On the video Kahn can be heard panting. Woods said, He was breathing in and out of his mouth which means he wasn't using his sense of smell."
A little further into the video the backup officer sees Mumphrey in the bathroom.
But, Kahn's panting may have kept the dog from alerting that the suspect was hiding behind the shower curtain, not once, but twice.
We wanted to know if that endangered the officers?
Woods said, “Oh absolutely.” “I know that one of our officers had backed into that room for cover not knowing he was in the shower."
Several seconds go by before the K-9 handler brings the dog back to the bathroom. Again, Kahn fails to alert.
The handler even appears to guide the dog back towards the bathtub, where Kahn then finds and bites the suspect's arm to hold him as the officers make the arrest.
Tulsa police often use dogs in searches and arrests to avoid deadly force situations.
Woods says what you see in these videos changed two things for the TPD K9 unit. Kahn is getting training to find suspects behind a shower curtain. Additionally, the K9 unit may not always use dogs when it is too hot outside.
Tyvon Mumphrey faces several charges in connection with this case.
Among them:
*robbery with a dangerous weapon
*child abuse by injury
* two counts of possession of a firearm
TPD has a dozen k-9 officers. Sergeant Ryan Woods tells 2 Works for You, the TPD K-9 unit constantly updates training as events like this one point out flaws.
