Port Arthur man, dog die after being trapped in car 
 
 Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Image 1 of 1 James Rogers Photos: Levingston Funeral Home's website. less James Rogers Photos: Levingston Funeral Home's website. Port Arthur man, dog die after being trapped in car 1 / 1 Back to Gallery 
 
 A Port Arthur man and his dog died Monday in a maddening and tragic accident after an electronic malfunction trapped them in his recently purchased 2007 Corvette, a car without manual door locks. 
 
 Police believe James Rogers, a 72-year-old Port Arthur man, and his Shih Tzu, "Baby Girl" Leia, died of heat exhaustion after Rogers used tools to try to pry himself from the vehicle and attempted to get the attention of passersby at the Waffle House parking lot on Jimmy Johnson Boulevard. 
 
 Rogers got to Waffle House to have his usual, daily cup of coffee at about 8 a.m. and went to check on his dog at 11:55 a.m., said Maj. Raymond Clark with the Port Arthur Police Department. 
 
 Rogers left his cell phone charging inside the restaurant. 
 
 Investigators suspect that an unsecured cable became loose when Rogers got in the car and shut the door, causing the Corvette to lose power. 
 
 That disabled the locks and horn, Clark said. 
 
 Police found fingerprints on the window, leading them to believe he tried to get someone's attention. 
 
 Since the car was new to Rogers, he was probably unaware of a door release on the floor next to each seat, a function listed in the 2007 Corvette manual. 
 
 
 
 A representative from Corvette Specialists, a Beaumont Corvette maintenance facility, said a 2007 Corvette is no different from a Chevrolet Impala, Ford Mustang or any other car manufactured at that time. 
 
 
 
 An autopsy will be performed to determine Roger's exact cause of death. 
 
 Rogers was a Thomas Jefferson High School grad and a U.S. Army veteran. A visitation from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday will precede a 7 p.m. funeral at Levingston Funeral Home in Groves. 
 
 MHeath@BeaumontEnterprise.com 
 
 Twitter.com/mheath31 ||||| Police believe electrical problem may have locked him inside car 
 
 The man has been identified as James Rogers, 72, of Port Arthur. (Photo: KBMT / family photo) 
 
 PORT ARTHUR, Texas -- A Port Arthur man took his last breath in what he considered to be his dream car. 72-year-old James Rogers and his dog Leia got trapped inside his 2007 Corvette Monday afternoon. 
 
 Police believe heat exhaustion eventually killed the two. 
 
 Rogers' daughter Tricia Hernandez says her it's heartbreaking that his dream car ended up taking his life. 
 
 The freak accident happened in the parking lot of the Waffle House on Jimmy Johnson Boulevard in Port Arthur, where Rogers was a regular. M.J. Ponsegrau, another regular. was called to the scene by employees to try to get Rogers and his dog out. 
 
 Photos: Man dies after being trapped in car 
 
 But Ponsegrau says the two were already dead. 
 
 Mike Flash, owner of Corvette Specialties, told 12News that the 2007 Corvette has a manual release located on the floorboard by the driver's seat. But Rogers did not know that. 
 
 Ponsegrau says Rogers was not the only one unaware of that. He says he, along with first responders, also struggled finding away to get Rogers o out of the car. 
 
 Ponsegrau says eventually firefighters had to break the window. 
 
 He said, "There's is a way to get in, but it's not common knowledge." 
 
 Hernandez says police believe her dad made a valiant effort to escape, and possibly died while looking through the car's manual. He could not call for help because he had left his phone inside Waffle House. 
 
 As strange as the accident seems, 12News has learned it's not isolated. We spoke to a Groves man named Isabel Moreno. Moreno told us he owned a 2006 Corvette, and one day he got trapped inside of it in his garage, when the battery went out. 
 
 Fortunately he says in his case, after awhile the battery started recharging itself enough to be able to roll the window down, and he was eventually able to get out safely. 
 
 Rogers funeral will be at 7:00 p.m., Thursday, June 11, 2015 at Levingston Funeral Home in Groves with Reverend D. Stephen McCrate officiating. 
 
 A visitation for family and friends will be held on Thursday evening from 5:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m. at the funeral home. 
 
 Rogers is survived by three children and five grandchildren. 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://on.khou.com/1JF1g4m ||||| Primo, a New Orleans Police K-9 in 2004. Matt Rose / The Times-Picayune / Landov ID: 5874049 
 
 By the time Officer Jason Lewis of the New Orleans Police Department returned to his police SUV, his K-9 — a six-year-old Belgian Malinois named Primo — was battling for his life. While Lewis got ready for his shift, he had left the dog inside the police vehicle. As the temperature inside the SUV rose on that hot May day in 2009, Primo tore, clawed, and bit into the upholstery on the seats — apparently trying to escape to cooler air. His body temperature spiked far above normal for a dog, to almost 110 degrees. When Lewis returned to the vehicle he saw Primo “lying in the back coughing.” The officer hosed down the dog then rushed him to a local veterinary clinic, where the dog subsequently collapsed, suffered three seizures, and died. Cause of death: “shock due to heat stress.” ID: 5876273 
 
 Interior of the police SUV after the officer found Primo “lying in the back coughing.” Metropolitan Crime Commission ID: 5874081 
 
 Primo is one of more than two dozen police K-9s that were left in vehicles and have died of heat-related symptoms since 2007. The animal rights group PETA identified 20 deaths; BuzzFeed News confirmed those and found another nine, based on local and national news reports. Untold numbers of pets die because they are left in cars, but the deaths of police dogs can be particularly heartrending because they, like uniformed officers, put their lives on the line. And these dogs don’t need to die. New technology can warn handlers who’ve left their K-9s in cars. “It is a painful, horrible death,” said Justine Lee, a veterinary specialist in emergency critical care and toxicology for nearly 20 years. “Once a dog’s temperature goes above 105 or 106 degrees, their cells start dying, and they can start going into seizures or have mass organ failure.” With the exception of their paws, dogs lack the sweat glands that humans have on their skin. The main way dogs cool themselves is panting. Lee said that since police dogs are usually German shepherds or Belgian Malinois, with thicker coats and darker hair, they are more susceptible to heat stroke than other breeds. Ike, a Department of Corrections K-9 in Phoenix, died last year after being left in the back of a police vehicle for seven hours after an officer forgot about him. Two police K-9s — Vegas and Hades — perished after they were left in a police vehicle for nearly 30 hours in Bexar County, Texas, in 2012. Again, their officer said he forgot he left them in the kennel portion of the specially equipped police vehicle. (A spokesperson for the Arizona Department of Corrections said that the department installed “a motion-sensing alarm system to help prevent similar accidents from occurring,” while a spokesperson for the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office said it had initiated “extra measures to help ensure incidents like this don’t happen again.”) The vast majority of such K-9 deaths occur in local police forces, but dogs also sweltered to death while in vehicles belonging to airport police, corrections departments, and other types of law enforcement agencies. Forgetting the dog in the car is one problem, but some handlers intentionally put their dog in the vehicle, mistakenly trusting the air-conditioning system to keep running for hours. In a particularly ghastly case, police K-9 Sasha was found in her handler’s SUV after three hot August days in Warwick, Georgia. Lt. T.J. Frye, Sasha’s K-9 handler, told investigators the dog must have made it into the vehicle on her own, according to a local Atlanta TV station WSB. Sasha’s final moments in the car were eerily similar to Primo’s. Both dogs apparently tried to chew through the car to escape. After Frye found Sasha’s bloated and decomposing body in the vehicle, he buried the eight-year-old Dutch shepherd in his backyard. Local residents and city officials expressed shock and grief, demanding that the dog receive a proper burial. An online petition for an investigation into the dog’s death received more than 4,000 signatures. Officer Frye resigned from the force a week after the dog’s death. The Warwick Police Department referred comment to its lawyer, Tommy Coleman, who said the department has “tried to put in place procedures” to prevent such deaths. “When you have public ​officers who serve in the capacity of, basically, a trustee of the public, and they cause the death of an animal who had been charged with serving the same community, most people get really charged,” said Scott Heiser, director of the Criminal Justice Program at the Animal Legal Defense Fund. “These dogs are a voiceless class, much like kids, and they are at that compete mercy of their handlers​.” Across America, there are at least 20,000 working police dogs, said Rick Ashabranner, president of the North American Police Work Dog Association. “Probably 95% of dogs stay with their handler and their family,” said Ashabranner, who worked with a police narcotics dog for 22 years. “It’s no different than owning a pet. The bond is so tight that when they die it’s like losing a family member.” No one knows how many police dogs die annually in hot cars. No federal agency keeps track. The Connecticut Police Work Dog Association tallies K-9s that died in service from all causes. The organization has tallied more than 2,000 K-9 deaths since 1940 from agencies including the Navy, Border Patrol, and local police. K-9s who died of excessive heat because they were left in vehicles are not listed explicitly, but some of those deaths can be found on the website under the category of “Heat Exhaustion.” The 29 deaths confirmed by BuzzFeed News occurred in 14 states from North Carolina to California, and only between April and September. Even on mild summer days, closed vehicles act like a greenhouse. When it’s 85 degrees outside, one study found that in 20 minutes, the temperature inside a car can rise almost to 114°F — almost 30 degrees. After an hour, the inside temperature can hit a scorching 128 degrees. ID: 5876279 
 
 This is how quickly a car can heat up Courtesy Jan Null, CCM; Department of Meteorology and Climate Science, San Jose State University ID: 5874202 
 
 According to historical temperature data, New Orleans hit a high of 88 degrees on May 27, 2009, the day Primo died. In an hour, according to the study, the black-haired dog would have been in temperatures nearing 130 degrees. By comparison, the hottest temperature ever recorded in the United States was 134 degrees in Death Valley, California. Officer Lewis told investigators that he had left the air conditioner on in the vehicle when he left Primo, according to a story in the Times-Picayune. A subsequent police investigation found no wrongdoing, but the district attorney charged Officer Lewis with aggravated cruelty to animals, a felony. Lewis later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor animal cruelty charge. He was ordered to pay $11,500 to the police department. After almost three years, a court of appeals found that Lewis was not negligent, and reinstated the officer with full pay and benefits. “There’s a huge controversy that he got off,” said Jeff Dorson, the executive director of the Humane Society of Louisiana. “It’s hard to know the truth, but the evidence shows that the dog did die of heat exhaustion, according to the necropsy report. And the fact that he [Lewis] plead guilty originally, what does that tell you?” A spokesman for the NOPD confirmed to BuzzFeed News that Lewis was reinstated to the force but no longer works with a K-9 Unit. The NOPD declined a request to interview Lewis. A 2012 federal consent decree mandated 15 specific changes to how the NOPD handles its K-9s, including “improvements to handler control of canines, personnel changes, and equipment procedures.” “By working in conjunction with the federal consent decree monitor, NOPD has put new and more stringent policies, training and procedures in place for both the dogs and their handlers,” said the department in response to questions by BuzzFeed News. The deaths of Primo, Hades, Vegas, Sasha, and other dogs were preventable. Many police K-9 units use heat alert systems sometimes known as “Hot Dog” or “Hot-N-Pop” systems. The technology varies, but if the vehicle’s interior gets too hot, the alert system automatically rolls down the windows, activates a cooling system or fan, and sets off the vehicle’s siren. According to an investigation by San Antonio’s ABC affiliate, KSAT 12, the Bextar County Sheriff’s Office bought two Hot Dog systems prior to the death of police K-9s Hades and Vegas, but “sat in boxes, untouched on a training room floor for over a year.” It is unclear why the systems, which were bought from a $27,000 grant, were not installed, the article states. A spokesman for the Bextar County Sheriff’s Office emailed BuzzFeed News that Hades and Vegas died “during a previous administration” and that the department has since taken new measures to prevent such deaths. He also wrote that “k9s are considered partners and the loss of them is tremendous for those who interact with them.” Since 2010, the NOPD has installed Hot-N-Pop systems inside every vehicle in the department, according to the NOPD’s statement to BuzzFeed News. “I’ve had those systems installed; I know how well they work,” said Jason Purgason, a former K-9 supervisor with the Reidsville Police Department in North Carolina for 10 years. A Hot Dog system typically costs $500–$1,000 per vehicle. “In the grand scheme of things, those systems are inexpensive,” said Purgason, now a training director for Highland Canine Training in North Carolina. The cost of procuring a police K-9 can vary greatly, but is generally expensive. The Glendale Police Department in Los Angeles County puts the figure around $20,000. The purchase of a dog alone is around $8,000. The additional cost of training of the dog for patrol, detection, and tracking is another $12,000. Total costs including outfitting a vehicle designed to carry a K-9 easily surpass $50,000 — and that figure does not include yearly training maintenance, veterinary care, and food. PETA plans to send letters to K-9 law enforcement organizations around the country urging them to install Hot Dog systems in all vehicles. “No dog should endure a needless, agonizing death while locked in a hot car, and a heat-alert system would be an easy fix,” the statement reads. The beginnings of the modern police dog can be found with the establishment of the first formal police dog training program in Belgium in 1899. Today, K-9s help track fugitive and missing persons, and they detect narcotics and explosives. Last September, as summer was drawing to a close in Montville Township, Ohio, two-year-old Beny was left in a patrol vehicle for more than fours hours, the windows rolled up, while Sgt. Brett Harrison filled out paperwork inside the police station, according to a local report. After Beny’s death, Sgt. Harrison wrote an apology to the township trustees. “Most of all, I want to say I’m sorry to my partner, friend and loving family member Beny. I wish everyday that I could go back and change that day or that I could put myself in your place. You will always be in my heart and I will miss you every second of every day,” Harrison wrote. Sgt. Harrison was given a two-week unpaid suspension, and 40 hours of his vacation time were taken away. Harrison was found guilty of one count of companion animal cruelty in March. Sgt. Harrison and the Montville Police Department did not respond to requests to comment. ID: 5876324 
 
 Police K-9 Beny. Montville Township Police ID: 5874118 ||||| An autopsy has confirmed a toddler pulled from a hot car in a Burlington parking lot Wednesday evening died from being exposed to high temperatures “for an extended period of time,” Halton Regional police said Thursday. No charges have been laid while the investigation continues. 
 
 A small memorial outside Crossroads Christian Communications in Burlington commemorates a 3-year-old boy who died after being left in a hot car on Wednesday. ( Fatima Syed/Toronto Star ) 
 
 There still remain many questions about the 3-year-old boy’s death. What is known is that police received a 911 call from an “hysterical” man about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday after the boy’s lifeless body was found in the back of a grey Ford Escape parked at Crossroads Christian Communications on North Service Rd. at Kerns Rd. Despite resuscitative efforts, first responders pronounced the boy dead at the scene. Temperatures in Burlington reached a high of 26 C, according to Environment Canada. 
 
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 A prayer vigil was held Thursday morning at the centre’s chapel, and 100 Huntley Street, Crossroad’s flagship television show, opened Thursday with an emotional call for mourning and prayer for the boy. “This was a child whose family is a precious part of the team of our building owner, a family who is in deep pain right now as they mourn the loss of their young son,” said a visibly shaken Cheryl Weber, a host of the show. By Thursday afternoon, a small memorial marked the parking lot where the boy was found. Two stuffed animals rested on the concrete, surrounded by bouquets of flowers. Police have not said who made the tragic discovery or how long the boy may have been in the car. The Halton police homicide unit is leading the investigation because of a protocol that mandates all sudden deaths of children under 5 be investigated by police. 
 
 “This is an inconceivable tragedy and right now we are focusing on the community and healing,” Sgt. Dana Nicholas said. “Any time a child dies, it is devastating to the family, community as a whole and to first responders.” Crossroads no longer owns the 1295 North Service Rd. building. It was sold to a numbered Ontario corporation in March, according to property records. That corporation is owned by a Campbellville business owner Shawn Saulnier. 
 
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 In a statement, a spokesperson for Crossroads noted the building’s new owners “are working closely with authorities while walking with their team through tremendous grief.” “We continue praying fervently for them and their families, our community, and our staff as we are all affected by this deeply tragic situation,” said Carolyn Innis. In Canada, there are no national statistics about the number of heatstroke deaths in vehicles, but there are deaths every year. In the United States, there have been 749 heatstroke deaths of children in vehicles since 1998, according to the website noheatstroke.org. In 54 per cent of those cases, the child was forgotten by a caregiver. In 27 per cent of cases, the child was playing in an unattended vehicle. Most of the children were 3 years old or younger. Concerned about the phenomena, Dr. Anthony Crocco, medical director and head of pediatric emergency medicine at McMaster Children’s Hospital, took the “hot car challenge” last summer to raise awareness about how quickly things can go wrong. He lasted about 15 minutes in the car, never allowing himself to get into that dangerous heatstroke range. Young children are especially at risk of heatstroke because they dehydrate faster and cannot get out of the situation on their own, Crocco said. “There is no safe amount time to leave child in a hot environment,” he said. The first stage is heat exhaustion, in which someone is sweating and agitated, Crocco said. “The problem is when someone stops sweating … that can quickly go from heat exhaustion to stroke,” he said. With heatstroke, someone’s core temperature rises so high they become lethargic and the body starts to shut down. Death can be caused by seizure or organ failure. In the emergency department, they treat kids every year for heat exhaustion and heatstroke, he said, adding that it doesn’t just happen in cars. The amount of time it takes for a situation to turn deadly can vary significantly depending on the child, temperature and other conditions. “Every heat exposure death is a tragedy and it’s usually an accident,” Crocco said. A Pulitzer Prize-winning article published in the Washington Post in 2009, “Fatal Distraction,” recounted the heartbreaking stories of people who had accidentally killed their babies. “ ‘Death by hyperthermia’ is the official designation. When it happens to young children, the facts are often the same: An otherwise loving and attentive parent one day gets busy, or distracted, or upset, or confused by a change in his or her daily routine, and just … forgets a child is in the car,” the Gene Weingarten story reads. The Canada Safety Council warns drivers to look twice before locking and always keep cars locked to prevent children from climbing in and becoming trapped. “It may come as a surprise that more than half of the children left in hot cars were trapped there unintentionally, forgotten in a moment of absent-mindedness, or trapped after playing unsupervised in an unlocked vehicle,” the hot car warning reads. The safety agency also suggests placing your cellphone, purse or wallet in the back seat, “a strategy that requires you to turn around and check the back seat whenever you leave the vehicle.” With files from Fatima Syed and Clare Rayment 
 
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– The 2007 Corvette has an emergency door-release handle on the floor by each seat, according to the manual—and if he had known that, 72-year-old Texas man James Rogers would probably be alive today. The Port Arthur resident died along with his pet Shih Tzu in a Waffle House parking lot on Monday after becoming trapped in the car, apparently because of an electrical problem, KHOU reports. Police believe the vehicle lost power to the locks and horn because of a loose battery cable and that Rogers and his dog died of heat exhaustion after he was unable to escape the vehicle or attract the attention of passers-by, reports the Beaumont Enterprise. Rogers, who had recently purchased the vehicle, left his cellphone charging inside the restaurant while he went to check on his dog and was unable to call for help, police tell the Enterprise. After he was noticed inside the car, firefighters broke in but found Rogers and his dog were already dead, 12 News reports. His daughter tells KHOU that the Corvette was her father's dream car. She says she believes her father made every possible effort to escape and may have died while reading the car's manual. (A Utah woman who had a premonition found her husband trapped under a car.)