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Members of the Greenville Police Department mourned the loss of a retired K9 officer in a Facebook post that was published Monday. The post reads as follows: Born to love. Trained to serve. Loyal to the end. It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of a beloved member of the GPD family. Retired K9 Chesty passed away peacefully at home yesterday, May 7th, 2017, with his handler Officer Brian Neague and family by his side. Chesty, who spent 9 years working with GPD, retired earlier this year after he was diagnosed with lymphoma. A loyal and fierce companion throughout the years, Chesty originally worked with Officer Bobby Parker but later became Neague’s partner after the addition of our explosive detection dog. Anyone who was fortunate enough to witness Neague and Chesty in action together could see that the bond between the two of them was undeniable. With more than 50 human locates, the location and seizure of hundreds of pounds of drugs and approximately 70 guns and other weapons which were hidden or discarded by criminals in flight, it’s hard to pick “just a few” memories of Chesty’s time with us. Some of his more notable incidents of work include the apprehension of two convicted felons who broke into an unsuspecting woman’s home in the Westhaven subdivision in 2012. The victim locked herself in a bathroom for 14 minutes as dispatchers talked her through the situation. Little did the suspects know Chesty was waiting for them in the front yard. Let’s just say they didn’t get very far. Most recently, Chesty apprehended a violent fugitive wanted for the heartbreaking drive-by shooting and murder of a beloved mother, sister, and friend in the Concord Drive community. He also tried to run…and well…as the story often goes with Chesty, that suspect didn’t get very far either. Then there was that time a suspect decided it would be a good idea to jump off a balcony ON TOP of Chesty. We’ll let you come to your own conclusions about how that went. We can’t forget to mention the countless children and missing elderly people Chesty located and helped to reunite with worried family members. Despite his many demonstrations at community events and frequent appearances on the news, Chesty was never much for attention. We’ll just call him an introvert. He lived to work and it is without a doubt our city was and continues to be safer because of his contributions. Rest in peace to our four-legged brother in blue. Enjoy yourself up there…we’ll take it from here.
