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Family of California officer killed while off-duty can keep his $9K police dog

MODESTO, Calif. — The California family of a police officer killed in August was able to purchase a living, breathing memento of the man and the department he worked for — for one dollar, the Modesto Bee reported.

Modesto police Sgt. Mike Pershall, 38, was killed in August when he was hit by a drunken driver while riding his bicycle on a city street, the Bee reported. He had been promoted to sergeant on Aug. 8 and had been the handler of Ike, a 3-year-old Belgian Malinois K-9, for two years.

Even though Ike represents a $9,137 investment for the Modesto Police Department, Chief Galen Carroll asked the City Council to consider “the human factor” and sell the dog to the family, the Bee reported.

“It is not a good deal for the Police Department to lose the dog,” Carroll told the Bee. “But there is also the human factor of, you have a wife and two kids who just lost their dad, and that’s the family dog. What is the right thing to do?”

City council members decided to sell the dog to the Pershall family for $1. He gets an early retirement from police work and will spend the rest of his days with the family of his handler, the Bee reported.