MONROE COUNTY, Pa. — The capture of a fugitive in southern Pennsylvania comes on the 9th anniversary of the Eric Frein manhunt that began in the Poconos.
In 2014, Frein killed one state trooper and severely injured another in an ambush outside the Blooming Grove barracks.
The second the police car door opens, Pocono Mountain Regional Police K-9 Creed gets to work, showing us how he's trained to subdue a suspect.
This was an exercise for the 7-year-old Belgian Malinois.
K-9 Creed's handler Cpl. Matt Nero has been working on the force as a K-9 officer and instructor for about 20 years.
"These are the elite athletes. These are like hybrid athletes. They can do everything, and they are force multipliers. We put them in situations, and it could take five, six officers, and you can take one dog out, and it changes the whole scenario, in a safer manner, too," Cpl. Nero said.
Scenarios include situations similar to the recent capture of Chester County Prison escapee and convicted murderer Danelo Cavalcante, who led police on a 14-day manhunt through the woods.
Nero believes officers made the right call by sending Yoda, a 4-year-old Belgian Malinois, to subdue and ultimately capture Cavalcante.
"We train them to that level so when the dog does get pressure, they understand it. They know they can fight through it. But their job is to go in there, apprehend the suspect, hold the suspect, and wait till the handler comes in and waits for the next command."
Nero knows first-hand what many of the officers in the Cavalcante search and capture went through. He was a K-9 officer during the 48-day Eric Frein manhunt in the Poconos in the fall of 2014.
"It was a couple months in the woods. I worked with multiple agencies. We worked with multiple dogs. I was tracking, backing up a dog that was tracking, and we would take over the track, so it was a lot going on. So, that was a scary situation. A lot of the times, I was off lead with the dog, you know, pushing certain wooded areas."
After being a part of other manhunts involving dogs capturing suspects, Nero believes every police agency should invest in a K-9.