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K9 Szalto – Erlanger, Florida
Handler – Officer Dave Lillich
Erlanger K-9 cop remembered as hero
Partner. Friend. Hero. That’s how Dave Lillich remembers K-9 officer Szalto. Szalto, 11, died late May, after a stroke. He served in the Erlanger Police Department’s K-9 Unit for about five years before his retirement in July 2013. At work, Lillich was his handler, at home, his best friend. Lillich also retired from the Erlanger department in 2013 and now serves as a sergeant with the Dayton Police Department. “He was a great partner. When he was at work, Szalto was strictly business,” he said. “When he was at home, he was the family pet, you’d never know he was working the streets as a police dog. It’s hard to get used to not having him around.” Szalto assisted in many dangerous apprehensions during his service, but one in particular stands out in Lillich’s mind. “I don’t remember all the facts, but there was a guy in Springfield Township who had assaulted two police officers. He attacked an officer with (the officer’s) Taser. He was captured in Cincinnati, but then escaped.” The escaped prisoner was discovered to have been living in an apartment in Crescent Springs. Lillich got the call one evening to assist the U.S. Marshal in a search at the apartment. “He couldn’t be found,” Lillich said. “I brought Szalto in and he immediately went to this small mattress that was on the floor. I kept thinking, ‘there’s no way anyone could be in there.’ But Szalto kept tugging at the mattress. In training, they teach you to trust your dog. So, I lifted the mattress and there was the bad guy. He attacked me. Szalto jumped in. It was a hard fight, the bad guy was kicking Szalto but he kept on him. Szalto really came through for me.” Lt. Mike Lemming, supervisor for Erlanger’s K-9 Unit, said Szalto was a good officer. “He performed well,” Lemming said. “He was a very good dog for us. These police dogs are special animals. They’re probably the most valuable tool we have in the department, period, hands down.” According to both Lemming and Lillich, the K-9 officers can do things, sense things, that human officers just can’t do. “A dog can find drugs, the bad guy, anything, they can alert other officers to danger,” Lillich said. “For example, if we had to search a place like Lowe’s or Home Depot, it would take a few human officers a good 30 minutes to do a search. One dog can do it in five minutes. They are a scarce asset in Kenton County, too. There are only five dogs throughout all the departments.” Lillich said that the Erlanger department was always supportive of the K-9 unit. “They always ensured the unit had the best training and equipment needed to do the job,” he said. “And they miss him too. I have been contacted by many of Erlanger’s officers in regards to Szalto.”
