WEST VALLEY CITY -- A West Valley family says their foster dog helped protect them from danger lurking at their back door.
The dog is Lexington a 1-year-old Labrador-German Shepherd mix.
"We found Lex about a month ago at my son's house, no collar, no tag," said Ken Kemp.
After a week in an animal shelter, Kemp and his family agreed to foster the pooch. They're glad they did. Around 2 a.m. on Sunday, "he sleeps on the bed beside me and jumped up and started barking like crazy and went to the back door and there were cops out front," Kemp said.
Lex made his way to the back door. Little did the Kemps realize police were already in their neighborhood at 4100 South and 5600 West, looking for a suspect who ran from officers. As Ken Kemp flipped on the back porch light he soon discovered why Lex was so worked up.
"The guy they were looking for was hiding out on our back patio," he said.
West Valley Police say 18 year-old Luis Mata allegedly refused to pull over for a traffic violation, led cops on a short chase, hit a parked car then ran on foot. Kemp said the suspect was hiding by his barbecue grill.
"I seen him through the window and we kind of made eye contact and I kind of backed away because I didn't know really what he had," he said.
Lex just kept barking and the suspect took off. Police arrested Mata at a nearby gas station. He's facing a slew of charges including a possible felony for running from cops.
The Kemps say they would have never known Mata was lurking close by without help from Lexington.
"We kind of saved him from being in the shelter and possibly euthanized and he in turn protected us," Kemp said.
The Kemps say they’re truly attached to Lex but feel he would be better off with children since he’s a puppy. They’re hoping a family will adopt the dog.
If you’d like to help, there’s more adoption information at http://www.rescuerovers.org/.
