A heartbreakingly simple and respectful memorial to Andrews County Sheriff's Department K-9 officer, who died in be line of duty while chasing a suspect.
The marker reads as follows:
"[image of a German Shepherd]
PINTO
My partner and my hero
June 2, 2001 - Dec 15, 2006
Andrews County Sheriff's Department"
From the Memorial to Fallen K-9 officers website: (
visit link)
"In Loving Memory of
K-9 PINTO
December 15, 2006
Handler: Sheriff Same Jones
Andrews County Sheriff’s Department
201 N. Main, Rm 113
Andrews, TX 79714
432-523-5545
Andrew's drug dog died Friday - Police dog to be buried following Thursday - Odessa American
Andrews County sheriff’s deputies plan to bury a three-year veteran of the department Thursday — memorializing the service of K-9 Pinto.
Memorial services begin at 2 p.m. Thursday on the front lawn of the Andrews County Courthouse with Sheriff Sam Jones and County Judge Richard Dolgener presiding.
Pinto was killed Friday night in a high-speed chase between sheriff’s deputies a 19-year-old Odessa man, sheriff’s reports said. According to sheriff’s reports, Deputy Mark Greenhaw stopped a vehicle on Highway 385, north of Andrews, on a routine traffic stop. One of the passengers, 19-year-old Justin Eubank, had outstanding warrants in Ector County, so Greenhaw handcuffed him and secured him in the front seat of the patrol car, deputies reported.
While Greenhaw and Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Kelly McClatchy returned to the stopped vehicle, Eubank maneuvered his cuffed hands to the front and fled in Greenhaw’s patrol car with Pinto, a K-9 unit, caged in the backseat, deputies reported. Greenhaw and McClatchy chased the patrol car into Andrews, where Eubank swerved and lost control striking an Andrews police car at North Main Street and Mustang Drive, reports said.
Eubank continued across Northwest Mustang Drive, hit another vehicle and both Eubank and Pinto were thrown from the car, police said. Eubank was airlifted to Medical Center Hospital and is listed in critical but stable condition. Pinto died en route to Andrews Veterinary Clinic.
Pinto was a 5-year-old German shepherd, which had been instrumental in many drug cases and seizures, UTPB Police Chief Mike Tacker said. Tacker, who was an Odessa Police Department narcotics officer for 15 years, said that in June 2004, Pinto was shot in the muzzle saving his partner and at least one other officer. Tacker said he borrowed the dog several times. “There’s a lot of drugs off the street because of that dog,” Tacker said. “…You can call the dog a hero, because he’s done his share of duty.”