Police dog sniffs out gunman, weapon

From the Daily News by Alison Gendar:

The nose knows.

In this case, the nose of NYPD K-9 Blaze could not be fooled.

The 7-year-old police dog was called into action on Tuesday to find a gunman who had ditched his weapon under a car near 225th St. and White Plains Road in the Bronx.

The gun-loving German shepherd picked up the discarded weapon in his mouth, and then, matching the scent on the weapon to the scent on the pavement, tracked the suspect more than a block and a half.

With his handler, Officer Benny Colecchia, at his side, Blaze zeroed in on a backyard on E. 227th St., where identical twins were playing dominos.

Earlier, Police Officer Isabelle De La Cruz and her partner, William Beissel, had gotten the call of a man with a gun on a city bus.

When they rolled up to 225th St. and White Plains Road, the gunman bolted. By the time De La Cruz found him in the backyard, the suspect had brought in his twin and set up the dominos.

Blaze followed the scent to Rahsheim Francis, 17, who was busted for weapon possession. The realistic weapon turned out to be a BB gun.

"That dog ... did his job," De La Cruz said.