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1 • Thursday, January 19, 2017 - The Independent
THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 2018
K9 Zoe, handler featured in Working Dog Magazine Receives honors for investigation of arson at air traffic control facility By Dee Longfellow floor panel that had been pulled up, exposing The Independent learned recently that Zoe, the K9 officer of the Bensenville Police Department, and his handler Officer Jack Barba were featured in the July/August 2018 issue of Working Dog Magazine. Officer Barba and Zoe were first trained in Alfred, Maine, by Maine Specialty Dogs and certified as an accelerant detecting K-9 team in 2010, by the Maine Criminal Justice Academy. The training and certification were made possible through a scholarship grant program from State Farm®. The magazine story began with Zoe’s training at the State Farm Arson Dog Program back in August of 2010. Since that time, Barba and Zoe have been investigating fire scenes throughout DuPage County. When they are not involved in investigations, the duo appear at schools, community groups and fire/police training academies to demonstrate the valuable work done by arson-trained dogs. The magazine story In what proved to be the most high-profile investigation of their career, Barba and K9 Zoe were asked by the ATF to investigate a fire at the FAA Air Traffic Control Communication Center located in Aurora on Sept. 26, 2014. According to the magazine article, earlier that morning, a communications contractor by the name of Brian Howard had appeared to set fire to the center, grounding thousands of flights in Chicago. It was part of Howard’s plan to take out the center and then kill himself. The fire was started in the basement of the facility around 5:40 a.m., forcing an evacuation and grounding all flights at O’Hare and Midway airports. Aurora paramedics and firefighters responded to the scene, going to the area where the smoke was heaviest, where they found a trail of blood leading to a
telecommunications cables and wires. Fire officials also found a gas can, nozzle, and towels that appeared to have been burned. The investigators continued to follow the blood trail until they came to a knife and a lighter lying on the floor, where they also found Howard attempting to cut his own throat and wrists. As the air traffic facility was evacuated, the FBI, ATF, FAA and local agencies carried out joint investigations. Officer Barba began working the crime scene and K9 Zoe recognized and alerted Barba to accelerants found on the towel, confirming suspicions of the investigators. Later, laboratory testing confirmed the evidence -- Howard had slashed key telecommunications cables, doused them in gasoline, and then started a fire to make a quick repair impossible. The incident crippled air traffic throughout the Chicago area, resulting in the delay of more than 11,000 flights. On Sept. 11, 2015, Howard pleaded guilty to willfully setting fire to, damaging, destroying, or disabling an air navigation facility and using fire to commit a federal felony. He was sentenced to 12 1/2 years in federal prison and ordered to pay $4.5 million in restitution. Thanks to the combined efforts of local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, not only was an arsonist apprehended, charged and convicted, but also no lives were lost in the process. More about K9 Zoe Zoe is a 60 pound female Yellow Labrador Retriever, born in Louisiana in 2009. Zoe is trained to sniff for and locate gasoline and other accelerants commonly used by arsonists to intentionally start fires. The K-9 team of Zoe and Barba serves the Village of Bensenville, surrounding communities, and parts of DuPage County, especially in fire and arson investigations.
Inside:
Police Reports...........6 Sports �������������������� 14 Out & About............3 Classifieds..........17-18
SUBMITTED PHOTO Bensenville Independent
Pictured is the Bensenville Police Department’s own K9 Officer Zoe and her handler Officer Jack Barba, who were featured in the July/August 2018 issue of Working Dog Magazine. The story tells about their success in an arson investigation that took place in 2014 at the FAA Air Traffic Control Communication Center located in Aurora.
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