Beaverton K9 Officer Atlas Tracks Footprints, Saves The Day

BEAVERTON, OR — Atlas may not have the weight of the world on his shoulders but he is carrying around the thanks of the owners of Black Hole Body Piercing and Tattoo.

Around 5 a.m. on Tuesday, Atlas, a K9 Officer with the Beaverton Police Department, and his human partner, Officer Dan Coulson, were right around the corner from the tattoo shop on SW 1st Street when they were told the shop's alarm had gone off.

They got there in moments but the burglar had already fled.

Coulson noticed the back door had been forced open and there were footprints heading away from it. He showed the prints to Atlas who went to work.

Atlas led his partner to a room at the Motel 6 nearby on SW Canyon Road.

Inside the room, Atlas and Coulson found 31-year-old Fabian Albert Hernandez and arrested him once they also found a bag of stuff that had been stolen from the tattoo parlor. Police say that Hernandez's shoes also matched the footpints.

He was booked into Washington County Jail on burglary, theft, criminal mischief, and two weapons charges.