Meet Connecticut's Canine Officers: Troop C's Viper

TOLLAND, CT — Police dog Viper has only been on the job a relatively short time, but he has certainly made an impact already.

Trooper Kyle Kaelberer and Viper began their tenure in December as part of the Connecticut 250th Patrol K9 Class. They work out of the state police Troop C barracks.

Kaelberer has always been known for his work with dogs and he and Viper hit it off immediately.

They already have stories to tell.

Just four months into his career, Viper teamed up with officers from Vernon, Manchester and South Windsor to quickly end a pursuit — and revive a suspect. Viper was called to the case after Vernon police alerted state police that a vehicle had failed to stop for them and was headed toward Manchester on Interstate 84, state police said.

It was 9:05 p.m. when the call came in.

As state troopers were responding, the vehicle subsequently stopped and two suspects fled on foot, according to an incident report. One suspect was captured quickly by Vernon Police and the other headed into a wooded area near Exit 63, according to an incident report. As a perimeter was being set up by Manchester, South Windsor and Vernon units, Viper located the suspect after about an hour unresponsive with shallow breathing, according to an incident report.

State troopers and officers from Vernon and Manchester began medical aid and the suspect became conscious after several minutes ands was eventually handed over to emergency medical crews.
The suspect was later taken into custody by Vernon Police.

Three months after that call, a drunken driver speeding through the buffer between the HOV lane and regular travel lanes of I-84 wound up meeting Viper up-close during an uncooperative traffic stop, state police said.

The situation unraveled on July 8, when Kaelberer was stationed on the highway near the Manchester-Vernon line and a Red GMC Sierra pickup truck went past him at a "reckless speed" in the swale between the high-occupancy vehicle lane and and the left lane of travel heading into Manchester, according to an arrest report. The truck was kicking up all sorts of "rocks and debris" that typically accumulate in the channel, according to an arrest report.

The truck then shot across four lanes to the I-291 westbound on-ramp and had a "misused" plate affixed to its bumper, according to an arrest report.

When Kaelberer caught up to him, the driver tried to accelerate and get away several times, but was eventually pulled over between exits 4 and 5 on I-291, according to an arrest report.

The driver was uncooperative and tussled with Kaelberer as he was being removed from the truck, according to an arrest report. Kaelberer had left Viper, in their cruiser, but as the driver became more aggressive, Kaelberer activated the "door pop" and out came Viper, according to an arrest report.

Viper then made quick work of the situation and "apprehended" the driver, according to an arrest report.

In early August, troopers responded to a trespassing complaint at 65 Kingsbury Ave. in Tolland according to arrest reports. Kaelberer and Viper searched the area and two people surrendered from an area around dumpsters, according to arrest reports.

State police determined the pair was stealing scrap metal and auto parts from one of the dumpsters and they were taken into custody, according to arrest reports.