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A police officer in Deer Park, Texas, recently braved a powerful tornado to save his K-9 partner of eight years.
Officer Joel Nitchman was on his way back to the police station after a training exercise with Roni, his narcotics detection K-9, when the EF-3 storm hit. (The EF scale rates tornados on a scale of 0 to 5, with 0 being the weakest and 5 the strongest.)
Roni was in his kennel in the squad car at the time, and Nitchman knew he had to get the dog out of the car to safety.
“The thought of debris, or the car flipping over … I couldn’t do that to him. I couldn’t have him out there during that,” Nitchman told KHOU 11.
The officer was captured on surveillance footage — which has since gone viral — running outside while lightning flashed to get Roni out of the vehicle.
“I knew something was bad when things were hitting my face. I knew it was debris of some kind,” Nitchman recalled.
The officer said the wind was so strong he could barely open the door of the squad car.
“Once I went around the car, that’s when all heck broke loose. I could barely open his door. When I did, he’s a smart dog, he saw what was going on outside and he said, ‘I’m not coming out.’ I’m, like, coaxing him, ‘Come on, buddy. Let’s go,’” Nitchman said.
After he finally got Roni outside, the two could be seen rushing to the station.
“Never been through anything like this before,” Nitchman said.
But the officer said he would do it all over again to save his partner.
“I love that dog. He’s my hip attachment almost every day of the week,” Nitchman said. “He’s a part of our family. We can’t leave a loved one like that. There’s no way I was going to leave him like that. I’m so grateful he’s OK.”
The tornado caused significant damage to the area, impacting the cities of Pasadena, Deer Park and Bay Town. According to officials, nearly 100 people lost their homes.
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