HURRICANE, Utah, Feb. 17, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — Hero police pooch Riko has been honored with the Medal of Valor by Hurricane officials.
Riko was stabbed in the neck several times by a suspect in a deadly encounter Dec. 26, which left his trachea severed. His recovery was well-documented in the media, with a trip to a veterinary critical care facility in Las Vegas and a donation page for his medical expenses.
Riko was up and walking within days after surgery for his injuries which were considered life-threatening or possibly crippling, returning to work in early January. Doctors actually cleared him for duty by Jan. 3, and presumably, appearances before the Hurricane City council.
Wednesday the council honored Riko, and two of his human co-workers, with the police department’s Medal of Valor for their actions at the Dec. 26 confrontation with a threatening suspect who was behaving wildly.
“The Medal of Valor is the Hurricane Police Department’s highest honor and is awarded to officers who distinguish themselves by conspicuous bravery or heroism above and beyond the normal demands of police service,” according to a departmental post Friday on Riko’s medal ceremony.
“To be awarded the Medal of Valor, an officer would have performed an act displaying extreme courage while consciously facing imminent peril.”
Riko was injured as police pursued a man who was threatening people in the Hurricane Cemetery Dec. 26, fleeing police in his vehicle which he then fled on foot after crashing into another vehicle.
The knife-wielding suspect entered a home of people he did not know, including two young children, followed by officers where shots were fired and the suspect killed, police said, but not before stabbing Riko.
