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- No charges will be filed against a police K-9 handler whose dog was left in a hot car for several hours and died.
- Loki died from heatstroke after being left in a vehicle in July 2023.
- While the death should have been avoided, the officer did not act recklessly, an investigation found.
SALT LAKE CITY — While the death of a Utah Department of Corrections K-9 left in a vehicle for 3 1/2 hours "could — and should — have been avoided," no criminal charges will be filed against his handler.
That's the decision announced Friday by Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill.
On July 13, 2023, Loki, an 8-year-old Belgian Malinois, was found deceased in a K-9 vehicle at the Utah State Correctional Facility.
According to a final report released Friday by Gill, Department of Corrections K-9 officer Jacob Lee Naccarato and a second officer loaded Loki into a "Ford Interceptor that was shared by the K-9 Unit and equipped for K-9 operations" at 2:39 p.m. They conducted a search at a warehouse and then put Loki back in the SUV's kennel at 3:02 p.m. While the officers went back inside the warehouse, they left the vehicle running.
At 3:12 p.m., the officers drove back to the air-conditioned indoor kennel facility where the dogs are kept, "backed the Interceptor into a stall in front of the 'Kennel,' and turned the vehicle off. (The officers) then exited the vehicle, without Loki," the report states. "The location that the Interceptor was parked had no shade cover."
The officers then responded to a couple of other calls for the next several hours.
"At about 6:44 p.m., officer Naccarato went to get Loki from his indoor kennel, opened it, and then ran out to the Interceptor where he found Loki deceased," according to the report.
The high temperature at Salt Lake City International Airport, just east of the prison, was 97 degrees that day.
Investigators learned that the vehicle Loki was left in had a heat-alert system installed, which was operating properly. However, a function designed to alert the officers if the temperature in the vehicle rose above 85 degrees was turned off, according to Gill's report. The final report also determined K-9 officers for the corrections department "primarily used the heat-alert system as a heat monitoring system, and that the K-9 Unit had not been trained on, nor were using the system's heat-alert function."
In his decision not to file criminal charges, Gill noted in his report, "We do not believe the evidence supports a finding that officer Naccarato was aware of the circumstances that contributed to Loki's heatstroke and death and disregarded those circumstances, as would be needed to support a charge for cruelty to an animal under a reckless standard. Such a scenario would require evidence that officer Naccarato was aware of the risk of heatstroke and death to Loki and that he disregarded that risk.
"Rather, we believe, based on what we know of officer Naccarato's activities throughout the remainder of his shift and his behaviors as he went to retrieve Loki from his kennel before going home, that it is reasonable to infer that he believed, albeit mistakenly, that Loki was safely in his kennel," the report states. "Thus, we do not believe the evidence before us supports a finding that officer Naccarato acted 'recklessly,' and we decline to file a case for cruelty to an animal under a reckless standard. ... While officer Naccarato was seriously mistaken in his belief that Loki was inside the 'Kennel,' we find that his failure does not rise to the level of criminal negligence."
Gill further explained to KSL.com on Friday that he had to look at ordinary negligence versus criminal negligence. In this case, because the officers had actually parked at the kennel, Naccarato may have thought he had properly put Loki back inside. The investigation would have been different, he said, had the officer, for example, gone to a restaurant and left Loki in the car while he had a long lunch.
"Accidents happen but not all accidents are criminal conduct," Gill said. "I think in his mind he has put the dog in the kennel."
Gill further added in the report that his review of the case "revealed an institutional failure by the (Utah Department of Corrections) to implement systems and protocols to safeguard against anticipated human failure. Human error does not always equate to criminal negligence, and when human failure is anticipated, it is upon us, as institutions, to create systems to safeguard against human error."
Even though the department had purchased K-9 heat-alert systems for their vehicles, the department did not properly train officers on how to use the alert function, the report says.
Utah Department of Corrections spokesman Glen Mills said Friday that the department agreed with the report and thanked Gill for taking the time to thoroughly investigate the incident. He said because of this tragedy, it is now "vital for us to learn from that mistake ... and make sure it never happens again."
Mills said the department has since implemented new training requirements and rules for K-9 handlers. All officers must now have annual training on the heat alert system in vehicles, officers must go through a "checklist" daily of the vehicles to make sure everything is working properly, and any dog left alone in a vehicle must be checked on every 15 minutes or the dog must be put back in the kennel facility.
Naccarato was placed on paid leave following the incident and has been removed from K-9 handler duties. Now that Gill's report is complete, Mills said the department will move forward with any final disciplinary action.
