A Marysville police dog just wrapped up one of its busiest stretches yet, helping officers track down two separate fleeing suspects in less than a week. K-9 Kona, paired with Officer TJ San Miguel, tracked a passenger's scent for several blocks through a busy area after the person ran from a stopped vehicle, then days later helped locate a suspect who fled a local Walmart.
The first case began on August 23, 2026, when Marysville police officers stopped a suspicious vehicle and a passenger fled on foot, according to Marysville WA Police on Facebook. K-9 Kona tracked the passenger's scent for several blocks through the busy area, and officers arrested the passenger safely and without incident. The passenger had a felony Department of Corrections escape warrant, per the same account.
Three days later, on August 26, 2026, a suspect fled Walmart, prompting another call for Kona and San Miguel. The team located a hat seen on Walmart store video, then tracked the scent trail backward from the suspect to locate multiple items the suspect had purchased and was wearing. The recovered evidence connected the suspect to items discarded after fleeing the store, the department's report notes, and the suspect had attempted to hide the discarded evidence.
A Felony Fugitive Along the Centennial Trail
The same週 also saw Kona and San Miguel assist Arlington police in locating a suspect with multiple outstanding warrants. Kona tracked the suspect from the 7-Eleven area along the Centennial Trail, a 30-mile paved regional corridor connecting Snohomish, Lake Stevens, Marysville, and Arlington that draws more than 500,000 recreational users annually, according to Snohomish County Parks and Recreation. The suspect walked away from officers after being ordered to stop, but Snohomish County Sheriff's Office deputies ultimately detained the suspect safely without injuries. The Arlington suspect was arrested for outstanding warrants and resisting.
Building on a New K-9 Team's Early Momentum
Kona and San Miguel's busy stretch of deployments in Marysville comes just months after the pair officially joined the department. K-9 Kona, a Belgian Malinois imported from the Netherlands, was 15 months old when he was sworn in alongside fellow police dog Charlie by Marysville Mayor Jon Nehring and Police Chief Erik Scairpon on December 8, 2025, after both teams earned Washington State Police Canine Association certification the previous month, according to the Lynnwood Times. Kona completed more than 250 hours of specialized training before certifying as a Generalist Dog Team, a designation that lets him perform both suspect tracking and evidence recovery.
Officer San Miguel brings deep experience to the partnership. She is an 18-year law enforcement veteran with more than five years of prior K-9 handling experience, having previously handled a police dog with the Seattle Police Department before joining Marysville. Back in February 2020, San Miguel and her former police dog partner Pele competed as an all-female team on A&E's reality competition show America's Top Dog, finishing second in their episode, per KING 5. She was recognized with a Certificate of Commendation during Marysville's annual awards ceremony in April 2026.
Part of a Larger K-9 Rollout
Kona and San Miguel are one of two new K-9 teams brought in after Marysville retired veteran dogs K-9 Steele, a Belgian Malinois who served more than eight years under Sgt. Brad Smith, and K-9 Copper, a German Shepherd who served under Officer Derek Oates starting in 2016. The department's other new team, K-9 Charlie, a German Shepherd from Germany handled by Officer Calen Roberts, made his own first capture in early 2026 by tracking a suspect hidden under ferns in Arlington following a state patrol pursuit, a capture that combined aerial drone thermal imaging with ground-based scent tracking.
Kona recorded his own first official suspect capture on May 1, 2026, after an automated license plate reader flagged a stolen commercial vehicle, prompting the dog to track the fleeing driver through yards and fences into thick brush near an apartment complex. Kona and San Miguel maintain dual certification for both patrol work and narcotics detection, allowing the team to support active searches and drug interdiction alike. The team's deployments have repeatedly stretched beyond Marysville city limits into Arlington and along regional corridors like the Centennial Trail, reflecting how heavily Snohomish County agencies now lean on interagency K-9 tracking alongside automated license plate readers and drones, a trend Hoodline examined in its coverage of an Everett manhunt resolved by camera tech.
Marysville police describe Kona as showing growing confidence, reliability, and teamwork with San Miguel following the recent string of deployments. The department has previously highlighted regional K-9 cooperation, including a Snohomish County Sheriff's Office narcotics dog assisting Marysville officers during a traffic stop that led to multiple arrests on outstanding warrants, as Hoodline reported in its story on K-9 Huuk's drug bust assist.
