PARK CITY, Utah — A scary situation in Park City stopped by Summit County deputies, including a K9 officer, has the community thanking everyone for their bravery.
It all started last week when an out of town resident called dispatch, who then reached out to the sheriff's office.
"He opened up his phone app and saw that this individual was taking a package that was left there,” said Sheriff Justin Martinez.
Deputies were immediately dispatched to the area and quickly found the car.
One deputy initiated a traffic stop on a 2013 Lexus sedan, which was previously listed stolen by Murray Police Department. The driver, Anthony Ortega, did not stop which led to a pursuit on Interstate 80. Ortega eventually exited at Kimball Junction before attempting to return to the highway, only to be stopped by when deputies successfully deployed tire spikes on his car.
Ditching his Lexus, Ortega made his way into a home in Jeremy Ranch where a family was asleep inside.
With the help of Hunter, a K9 officer with the sheriff's office, locating Ortega was easy.
“Through teamwork through communications with other deputies, they were able to locate the suspect in the house that he entered,” said Sheriff Martinez. “It's the handler of the K9 working together as a team. The handler and K9 work together as a team with the other deputies all of them working in collaboration with each other we go."
After being a very good boy, Monday was "Hunter’s Day" with Laura Francese of Park City Cakery giving him his very own cake to enjoy.
“So I started my bakery about four years ago, and it was mostly just cakes for humans. But I friggin love dogs,” said Francese. “Where Hunter ended up finding the felon last week was in Jeremy Ranch, just right across from my neighborhood. So when I heard about this, it was just like, I teared up. It's just such an honor for me to be able to do this. Meet the dog and I just, I love dogs.”
