New St. Louis County K-9 team tracks suspect in Cloquet
Just days after graduation, Deputy Gavin Nichols and K-9 Volter tracked a fleeing suspect in Cloquet for three blocks and helped end the search peacefully.
Deputy Gavin Nichols and K-9 Volter were put to work just days after graduating, tracking a fleeing suspect in Cloquet for about three blocks before finding the person hiding in thick brush and helping bring the search to a peaceful end.
The St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office team was called in after Cloquet police began looking for a suspect who had fled a vehicle and continued on foot. The suspect surrendered without further incident, ending a search that could have become more dangerous as it moved into thick vegetation where officers on foot have less ground to cover and less scent to follow.
For the sheriff’s office, the deployment showed more than a quick success story. It put a new K-9 handler and dog into a live public-safety response at the moment the team was first available, and it demonstrated the kind of capability deputies gain when a dog like Volter is added to the roster. In practical terms, the unit brings human tracking into areas where a suspect can disappear fast, especially in brush, woods, or other rough terrain.
The Northland K-9 Foundation says dogs in regional law enforcement teams are used to track felons, search for missing people, and detect drugs, weapons and critical evidence. The foundation also says the dogs often work overnight shifts, weekends and in all kinds of weather, which fits the kind of call that sent Nichols and Volter into Cloquet.
St. Louis County has used multiple K-9s across its patrol areas in recent years, including Duluth, Hibbing and Virginia. The county identified Thor as its newest K-9 in June 2022, when he was paired with Deputy Marty Thorne, showing that the department has continued building out a specialized unit rather than relying on a single dog.
The Northland K-9 Foundation says it supports eight K-9 units in northern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin. It describes new regional teams as dual-purpose dogs trained for narcotics detection, evidence searches, human tracking, apprehension and handler protection, a mix of skills that makes a three-block track in Cloquet a routine test as well as a public reminder of what the county now has on hand.
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