A St. Paul police dog that was shot in the paw while tussling with a drug suspect is expected to be among the recipients of Medals of Valor awarded by the police department today.  

Rico and his partner — officer Robert Edwards — were involved in a October 2007 chase that started in the Highland Park neighborhood and ended in south Minneapolis with the suspect shooting the German shepherd and Edwards shooting the suspect in the hand and buttocks.

According to police, the suspect had been deeply involved in narcotics trafficking and was considered a dangerous fugitive.

OTHER HONOREES: Police also will honor officers involved in two other 2007 cases — both of which ended in the death of the suspects.

In September 2007, officers Cory Kochendorfer and Jessica Phillips fatally shot a 34-year-old St. Paul man who reportedly lunged at them with a knife in the 500 block of York Avenue. The officers, suspecting the man may have assaulted his girlfriend, ordered him repeatedly to drop the knife before firing.

In February 2007, officers Armando Abla-Reyes and William Beaudette assisted in stopping a gang member who led police on a late-morning chase down busy E. 7th Street. The suspect, a 25-year-old Minneapolis man, crashed his sport-utility vehicle at E. 7th and Arcade streets, and after showing he had a gun, was shot by the officers.

The Ramsey County medical examiner’s office later ruled that the suspect died of a self-inflicted gunshot.

A RETIREE: The department and St. Paul Police Foundation also plan to honor retired officer James Mann for a 1971 incident during which police say he successfully negotiated with an armed bank robber holding a grandmother and grandchild hostage.

ANTHONY LONETREE