A former Boone County sheriff deputy has been charged in the death of Bear, a K-9 officer who died last September after spending nearly 24 hours in his handler’s hot car.
Dallas Wingate, 50, turned himself in to the Story County jail on Tuesday and was later released on bond, according to Story County Sheriff Nicholas Lennie. Wingate was charged with one count of injury or interference of a police dog service, a class D felony.
Class D felonies are punishable by a maximum of five years in prison and a fine of $750 to $7,500.
Search warrants made available in December showed Wingate placed Bear in his truck at approximately 10 p.m. Sept. 1. He realized he had left Wingate in the truck at 8 p.m. on Sept. 2, approximately 22 hours later.
“Wingate discovered K-9 Officer Bear deceased at that time,” the warrant report says.
The high temperature on Sept. 2 was 89 degrees, which means the temperature inside the vehicle could have reached between 130 and 135 degrees, Iowa State Climatologist Justin Glisan previously told the Ames Tribune.
Wingate, an experienced K-9 handler whose former partner, Bandit, helped find Iowa State University golfer Celia Barquin Arozamena’s killer, resigned from the Boone County Sheriff’s Office, effective Sept. 8. He had been placed on administrative leave a few days prior.
The case will be prosecuted by the Story County attorney to avoid a conflict of interest. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation assisted with the investigation.