Sergeant Darryl Tsujimoto, 41, died of a heart attack during K-9 training on 5/1/06 at 9:00 p.m. on Treasure Island. Sergeant Tsujimoto of Alamo had just run a half a mile with a department dog, leading the exercise to track a suspect, when he collapsed. He collapsed at the same point the dog located the pretend bad guy. At the time his fellow officers didn’t know if this was part of the training. His partner thought he was just adding something to the scenario. She questioned him for a second, and he wasn’t responsive.” Tsujimoto was taken to San Francisco General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He handled K-9 Loki, a German shepherd, and K-9 Barak, a Belgian Malinois. Both were dogs he had owned, trained and donated to the department. He also trained many other K-9’S and donated them to smaller police departments that did not have a K9 unit or that did not have the funding for one. Many police departments in California sent their officers to train with Sergeant Tsujimoto because he was known for his expertise in K-9 training. Under Tsujimoto’s leadership, the canine unit won gold medals in several national competitions. Tsujimoto had also served in the Mission, Taraval, Park and Tenderloin Task Force stations, and in the narcotics and vice units. Sergeant Tsujimoto was a 15-year San Francisco Police veteran who headed the department’s nine member canine unit since 1999. Seventy canine teams attended Darryl’s memorial service. Tsujimoto was engaged to be married to Sonia Rosenberger, a veterinarian.
Menu
