Dog Dials 911 When Owner Has Seizure

In this Friday, Sept. 12, 2008 photo provided by the Scottsdale Police Department, Joe Stalnaker is shown with his German shepherd, Buddy. Police say Buddy saved Stalnaker's life by dialing 911 when he began having a seizure on Wednesday. (AP

PHOENIX — "Man's best friend" doesn't go far enough for Buddy _ a German shepherd who remembered his training and saved his owner's life by calling 911 when the man had a seizure.

And it's not the first time Buddy has been there for owner Joe Stalnaker, a police officer said Sunday.

On a recording of the 911 call Wednesday, Buddy is heard whimpering and barking after the dispatcher answers and repeatedly asks if the caller needs help.

"Hello, this is 911. Hello ... Can you hear me? Is there somebody there you can give the phone to," says the dispatcher, Chris Trott.

Police were sent to Stalnaker's home, and after about three minutes Buddy is heard barking loudly when the officers arrived.

Scottsdale police Sgt. Mark Clark said Stalnaker spent two days in a hospital and recovered from the seizure.

"It's pretty incredible," Clark said. "Even the veteran dispatchers _ they haven't heard of anything like this."

Clark said police are dispatched whenever 911 is called, but that Stalnaker's address was flagged in Scottsdale's system with a notification that a trained assistance dog could call 911 when the owner was incapacitated.

Clark said Stalnaker adopted Buddy at the age of 8 weeks from Michigan-based Paws with a Cause, which trains assistance dogs, and trained him to get the phone if he began to have seizure symptoms. Buddy, now 18 months old, is able press programmed buttons until a 911 operator is on the line, Clark said.

Clark said Buddy has made two other 911 calls when Stalnaker was having seizures.

He said Stalnaker's seizures are the result of a head injury he suffered about 10 years ago during a military training exercise.

Stalnaker was not listed in the phone book, and he did not immediately respond to a request through police for an interview.

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Anyone Home

Actually this little fella still lives in the pouch, just needed a drink whilst out stretching his legs.

Sex offender admits posing as 7th grader

PHOENIX, Arizona (AP) -- A sex offender who posed as a 12-year-old boy to enroll in Arizona schools has pleaded guilty to seven criminal charges, two stemming from the charade he pulled for two years, and will go to prison for more than 70 years, a prosecutor said.

Neil Havens Rodreick II was 30, but wore heavy pancake makeup to pose as a 7th grader named Casey.

Authorities didn't find any victims of sexual abuse at the schools 30-year-old Neil Havens Rodreick II attended. But when Rodreick's ruse was discovered in January 2007, they found an extensive collection of child pornography at his home.

Rodreick had originally faced 28 counts, but pleaded guilty to only a quarter of them Friday in Yavapai County Superior Court in northern Arizona, according to a plea agreement document.

Rodreick pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual exploitation of a minor stemming from the pornography, as well as one count each of failure to register as a sex offender, fraud and simple assault.

The felony fraud and misdemeanor assault charge are the only ones that stem from Rodreick's involvement at schools. Authorities say he enrolled in school under fraudulent pretenses, and that he grabbed a girl's buttocks at a charter school in Prescott Valley with the intent to injure, insult or provoke.

Authorities said that when the girl believed Rodreick to be a boy, she shrugged off his behavior as immature. But when police told her his true age, the girl became upset and started to cry.

Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk said according to the terms of the plea deal, Rodreick must serve no less than 70½ years in prison and will not be eligible for release until his sentence is up. She declined to comment further.

Rodreick's defense attorney, Alex Harris, did not return calls seeking comment.

Sentencing has not been scheduled.

Rodreick attended charter schools in Surprise, Payson and Prescott Valley starting in 2005, authorities said. They say he shaved and wore pancake makeup to help him appear younger, convincing teachers, students and administrators that he was a young boy named Casey.

He was caught in January 2007 after spending a day in the seventh grade at a Chino Valley school after school officials became suspicious about his paperwork.

Rodreick was arrested with Brian J. Nellis, 36, who was posing as Rodreick's cousin, and two older men posing as the men's uncle and grandfather.

Nellis, Lonnie Eugene Stiffler, 63, and Robert James Snow, 45, were indicted on various charges, including child pornography and forgery. Nellis and Snow, both convicted sex offenders, were also charged with failing to register with authorities.

When authorities searched the four men's home in Chino Valley, a community northwest of Phoenix, they found more than 600 graphic photos and videos of child pornography and a sex tape that depicts Rodreick and a boy between the ages of 10 and 13 having sex in a motel room.

Before coming to Arizona, Rodreick was convicted in Oklahoma of lewdly propositioning a 6-year-old boy in 1996. He served about six years in prison.

The trial for Nellis, Stiffler and Snow is scheduled to begin Noveber 19.

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