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Died – 12/8/15
Handler – Officer Benny Colecchia
NYPD German shepherd Blaze, K9 who sniffed out criminals, laid to rest at 14
He lived a hero’s life. Blaze, a beloved NYPD German shepherd who sniffed out guns and bodies, helped end a hostage standoff and once used his nose to tell a suspect from his twin, was put to rest Tuesday. Blaze, who retired from the force in 2011 and turned 14 in October, became ill in recent days. Rather than subject him to a painful, possibly fruitless surgery to find out what was wrong, his partner, NYPD Officer Benny Colecchia, 42, made the tough call to let him spend his final hours in dignity. “He did his job. He did his duty,” Colecchia said. Blaze, who was born and raised in the Czech Republic, partnered up with in 2003 and worked out of Staten Island’s 120th Precinct. “We hit it off. Our personalities clicked, and he became my partner. He knew exactly what I felt, and I knew exactly what he felt,” Colecchia said. And he helped make some stellar arrests over his police career. In 2009, the NYPD sent Blaze in to find a suspect who ditched his weapon under a car at 225th St. and White Plains Road in the Bronx. Blaze tracked the suspect’s scent from the gun – a realistic-looking BB gun, it later turned out — then found the man playing dominoes with his identical twin. Blaze’s snout wasn’t fooled, and he zeroed in on the correct brother. In 2011, Blaze used his nose and teeth to send two members of a three-crook robbery team to the doghouse. The dopey trio tried to rob a Bensonhurst AutoZone with fake guns, sparking a two-hour hostage standoff. When police moved in, two of them tried to hide in the store’s drop-down ceiling. Blaze barked, and one of the crooks made the smart play and surrendered. The second decided to fight, and Blaze chomped her arm, landing her in a sling. The third crook tried to escape by wearing the store manager’s shirt, but police saw through the disguise. Despite his glory in the field, Blaze’s greatest achievement was the way he connected with children at NYPD events, Colecchia said. “He made the kids smile, and he let the kids pet him, touch him and ride him,” Colecchia said. After three operations for a pinched nerve, an infected toe and stomach bloat, Blazed called it a career in May 2011, spending his retirement living with Colecchia and his five children in Staten Island. He got along well with Colecchia’s new K-9 partner, Timoshenko, who’s named after named after slain Staten Island officer Russel Timoshenko. “He was such a great dog, and he touched a lot of kids,” Colecchia said.
