K-9 Saves Hancock County Deputy from Ambush Attack

A manhunt is under way after a Hancock County Sheriff’s Department deputy was saved by his dog from an ambush attack by three men.

The deputy, Todd Frazier, was beaten and cut with a box cutter in Pearlington on Monday, Sheriff Ricky Adam said. If it wasn’t for his K9 partner, a black Belgian Malinois named Lucas, they might have succeeded.

“They told him they were going to slit his throat, and they were dragging him toward the woods,” Chief Deputy Don Bass said, adding that authorities believe the attackers meant to drag Frazier into the woods, kill him, and dump his body.

The car, a blue Lincoln Town Car with a darker vinyl top, was parked in a rest stop, and the driver was sitting alone inside with no lights on around 10 p.m. Monday. Frazier got out of his vehicle and went to check on the car.

“When he got out, two other people came out of the woods right by the vehicle, and he backed up and fell, and it was on then,” Adam said.

It is not clear yet if the attack was related to recent threats by gangs to attack police on sight, Adam said, “but at this point in time I don’t care. This kind of attitude has been prevailing in Washington for the last six years and now it’s coming home to roost and we’re the targets.”

Frazier suffered a two-and-a-half-inch cut to his forehead and multiple bodily injuries. {snip}

“The three of them were dragging him toward the wooded area, and he was able to break one hand free to activate the button that opens the door and it released Lucas,” Bass said.

The dog bit at least one, probably two of the suspects, potentially saving the officer’s life. That was more than good equipment and a good dog, Adam said.

“We don’t know how many he got, we just know he had blood all over him,” Adam said.

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The suspects fled in the Town Car. Frazier was taken to Hancock Medical Center where he was treated and released Tuesday morning. Lucas was not injured.

Adam said given the attitude in the country toward law enforcement, he has been trying to prepare his deputies for the worst.

“We’ve been stressing this for months and months now. It’s no different from last week we get a BOLO from the state alerting us that the Black Gangster Disciples have put out an SOS, or ‘Shoot on Sight’ for police officers,” he said. “For a couple of months we’ve been preaching safety because we knew our location between New Orleans and on the I-10 corridor . . . it’s going to happen here.”

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[Editor’s Note: This story notes that the three suspects are black.]