Dolpho was supposed to be showing the Sto-Rox eighth-graders how he searches criminals for envelopes that contain drugs.
Instead, he took hold of a girl's pants and shirt with his front teeth, ripping and tearing her clothing.
As a result of the Jan. 29 incident, the veteran police dog, who was suspended Feb. 2, may be replaced.
At the very least, it doesn't look as if Dolpho will ever be back to Sto-Rox Middle School. The often-lauded German shepherd has been serving McKees Rocks police since July 2000.
Dolpho was brought into an eighth grade classroom by his handler, Officer Shawn Barger, as part of The Adopt-A-Schools program, in which police officers and FBI agents discuss and demonstrate various aspects of law enforcement.
Having successfully located one of three envelopes containing synthetic drugs hidden in the classroom, Dolpho began working on finding the second envelope when things went wrong.
"The dog had taken two or three steps past the student when she made a jerking motion with her right elbow toward Dolpho without striking him.
Dolpho reacted to this and turned around and got hold of the female student's shirt and pants area," the police report said.
"Barger stated Dolpho didn't bite the student because he had his hands in Dolpho's mouth and Dolpho got a hold of the student's shirt and pants area with only his front teeth."
Even so, Sto-Rox Superintendent Tony Skender said the mishap might bring about some changes in the Adopt-A-School Program.
"We may do without the dog or bring in a new dog," Skender said, adding that he didn't want to see Dolpho back in the school.
"He was aggressive towards one of the students and we won't have that," he said.
McKees Rocks Councilwoman Wanda Jones-Dixon has been on record as opposing Dolpho's use since June, when Dolpho bit a 9-year-old McKees Rocks boy, Brandon Livingston.
Barger was trying at the time to apprehend a drug suspect on Bouquet Street in McKees Rocks.
Livingston is black and the drug suspect is white, which prompted Dixon to accuse the dog of singling out African-Americans to attack. She said she had received several complaints from black people who said the dog lunged at them or was aggressive toward them because of their race. The eighth-grade student in the latest incident is also black.
Dolpho's former trainer, Kenneth J. Molen, said after the Livingston biting that he did not train dogs to distinguish or focus on any one race. He said his training did not entail using decoys who appear to be African-American.
Dolpho also has been recognized for his help in apprehending a number of drug suspects, a bank robber and two men charged with the robbery of a McDonald's restaurant in McKees Rocks.
The men were also charged in a string of robberies at fast-food restaurants and video stores in Bellevue and Penn Hills.
The borough's Public Safety Committee is looking into the school incident. A black Labrador has been suggested as a possible replacement for Dolpho.
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(Bob Podurgiel is a freelance writer.)
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