SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) -- The officer who was accused of leaving K9 officer Loki in his patrol vehicle on a hot summer day in July, leading to Loki's death, will not face criminal charges, according to the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office.
Loki was found dead inside the patrol car on July 13, 2023, outside the Utah State Correctional Facility in Salt Lake City. National Weather Service records show the daytime high on that day was 97 degrees Fahrenheit.
After a thorough investigation, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill declined to press charges, saying the K9 officer did not recklessly endanger Loki's life, had parked in a shaded area, and that the entire K9 Unit was untrained on how to properly use a "Heat Alert" safety feature equipped in the K9 vehicle.
According to Gill, the Heat Alert function on the K9 patrol car was turned off.
"We learned, at the time, the K9 Unit primarily used the heat alert systems as a heat monitoring system and that the K9 Unit was not trained on or using the system's heat alert function," Gill said in a release.
Gill said when turned on, the "Heat Alert" function will drop passenger and kennel windows and turn on the air conditioning when the internal temperature of the car hits 85 degrees Fahrenheit. If the patrol car is turned off, the Heat Alert function will also start the engine in order to carry out these safety features.
The investigation also found that the K9 officer did not believe Loki was in the car and was safely in his indoor kennel.
"In a legal analysis of possible offenses [the K9 officer] could be charged with, this office evaluated the elements of the offenses of cruelty to an animal both in state and city code," Gill said. "For us to conclude that he acted recklessly, he would need to have been consciously aware of the risk of keeping Loki in the vehicle and disregarded it. [The officer] going to get Loki from his kennel instead of the vehicle where he was left, indicates the officer believed Loki to be in his kennel."
Gill concluded by saying that based on the investigation, Loki's death was a "profoundly unfortunate accident," but it did not "rise to the level of criminal negligence."
The Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office said the Department of Corrections had been very forthcoming and responsive throughout the investigation.
"Though this was a preventable tragedy, they have shared with us policy changes to prevent a future tragedy like this from taking place," Gill said.