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Area Law Mourns Passing of Caesar

By Layla Kalinen
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
BELLOWS FALLS, V.t. — The Windham County Sheriff’s Department, former officer of the Bellows Falls Police Department Mario Checchi, among a large group of local, county and state law enforcement are mourning the passing of retired K9 Caesar after a long fought battle with cancer.

On February 14, 2023, Caesar passed away peacefully in the comfort of his home, surrounded by his friends, family, and handler, Detective Sergeant Mario Checchi.

According to Detective Mario Checchi, the once shy puppy he picked up for personal training assisted numerous local and federal agencies in the tracking of dangerous criminals on the run.

“I picked him up from the Vermont Police Academy in Pittsford, Vermont when he was six months old,” Checchi recalled. “Caesar was extremely timid when I first picked him up. He was afraid of floors, surfaces, there would be certain laminate he would be super skittish around, flooring specifically.”

The detective said the story of Caesar unfolded in a memorable way.

“When I first brought him to the [Bellows Falls] police department he didn’t even want to go in. Then when he did go in he would jump from carpet to carpet,” he said. “My office was upstairs and it took him a couple of days to come up to my office.”

Officer Caesar was a skilled and highly trained police K-9 who was loved and praised by the community members he served, according to Detective Checchi, who said the adjustment was dramatic.

“It took a couple days to get him comfortable with his surroundings. When he adjusted it was like a light switch came on. I saw the transition happen immediately,” Checchi remembered.

Caesar received extensive training and went from rookie to pro immediately, according to Checchi. “He was on it watching everything and waiting for my command until he died,” Checchi said.

When Caesar started exhibiting signs of exhaustion as he eclipsed into retirement, Detective Checchi said he was faced with several different ways to save him and none of them were easy.

Checchi said Caesar lived for a year after his diagnosis that gave him one day to one month and Caesar had lived up to the name he had given him.

“I love history and the stories told that I remember and it came into my head that he was a born leader and that is why I named him Caesar,” Checchi stated.

Officer Caesar’s career milestones include in 2015 when he assisted in the seizure of 15,000 in counterfeit 100 dollar bills which was the largest counterfeit investigation in New England at the time.

Officer Caesar was on the job in 2017 in the co-drug and detection team and won an award for his service in the State of Vermont and parts of New Hampshire.

Officer Caesar assisted with the seizure of over 15,000 bags of heroin and over $75,000 in forfeited money over the length of his career.

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