COLP, Ill. (WSIL)-- Williamson County authorities arrested a teen accused of breaking into a local liquor store, and they used a K-9 officer to help.
News 3 learned more about how law enforcement used their K-9 unit to capture the suspect and talked with a nearby business about the incident. Sheriff Jeff Diederich says the K-9 unit made it possible to find the suspect.
鈥淭hat's a pretty remarkable situation because absent of having the K-9, initially we had on scene no leads,鈥� Sheriff Diederich said.
Sheriff Deidrich says the K-9 officer picked up the scent of the person who was recently in the store, and they could track it to a nearby home less than a mile away. He says it's part of a skill they have to locate missing people and find drugs.
鈥淪o it was a process of tracking,鈥� Diederich said.
He says the dog and handler worked together as a team. He says the handler would use the tracks in the snow to follow the trail, and when they got to a roadway or pavement, the dog would use the scent to pick the trail back up.
News 3 received the surveillance video showing the break-in. Diederich says the teenager was found in less than an hour because a K-9 officer was present.
鈥淔rom the security cameras and so forth, that might have assisted, but the individual did have their face covered, and so it was a little bit obscured. So without having a K-9 that was trained to be able to do this, apprehending the person responsible would've been a little bit more difficult,鈥� Diederich said.
A neighboring business was surprised to learn of a burglary over the weekend. Rosebud Antique Mall owner Joe Baker says they have been located in Colp, Illinois, for 13 years and says they experienced one theft last spring.
鈥淲e know this happens here; it happens all around the country. I am particularly glad to see that Williamson County has a K-9 unit and that it seems like that the dog was involved in this,鈥� Baker said.
Baker says being in the rural area of Williamson County, businesses tend to be heavy on security, but they aren't really worried for themselves because it's not something that happens a lot.
鈥淲e have the usual security cameras and things like that, but we also know that we don't have a lot of things that people would really want to take and can easily convert,鈥� Baker said.
Williamson County Sheriff says the teenager admitted to taking multiple bottles of alcohol from the store. The sheriff says the teen was arrested and later released to a guardian, and they have set a court date.
