BART bomb dog plays key role in weapons bust in Walnut Creek

Walnut Creek Police Credit BART Dog for Playing "Significant Role" in Discovering Weapons Stash

The Walnut Creek Police Department is crediting the discovery of illegal firearms and explosives to one of BART's bomb sniffing dog teams.

Walnut Creek Police asked BART Police Officer Jason Ledford and his explosive detecting dog, Andy, to determine whether a garage contained explosives. Andy used his highly trained nose to independently confirm that the garage did.

Soon after, Walnut Creek Police were able to get a judge to issue a search warrant based largely on the evidence Andy found.

On Friday evening, January 13, authorities arrested 32-year-old Ivan Gutzalenko in Walnut Creek for possession of four destructive devices and several illegal firearms including three fully automatic assault rifles. Gutzalenko is in the Contra Costa County Jail on a $3 million bond.

Because this is a Walnut Creek Police investigation, BART will not answer any questions about the details of the case. Please call the Walnut Creek Police Department at 925-943-5875 for more information.

ABOUT BART'S CANINE UNIT
BART's K-9 team was established in 1990. Initially, BART used the K-9 teams to protect passengers, locate hidden suspects and track down stolen evidence. Then, around the time of the March 2004 Madrid, Spain train bombings, BART began to use the dogs in its anti-terrorism efforts by cross-training the dogs to sniff for explosives. BART currently has nine canine teams.