A Fairfield police sergeant and his four-legged partner have notched a major accomplishment, as they were unanimously picked as winners for the top K-9 deployment in Connecticut for 2019.

Sgt. Evan Kaesmann and Maverick have a pretty impressive track record seizing pounds of narcotics and locating more than 100 suspects and missing people over the years.

"When you're working in the nighttime hours, generally it's suspects that run from us," says Kaesmann. "And then we're required to try to locate them, so that's the majority of our work."

One of those types of calls recently involved a stolen car with four suspects inside.

"The car was still moving when all four doors opened up, and four suspects jumped out of the car, and it continued to roll into a house," says Kaesmann. "I got out of the car. I opened the back door, and Maverick and I took off running after them."

The duo swam through a river in the woods, with Kaesmann giving Maverick commands the whole way. Ultimately, three suspects were taken into custody, and they located and apprehended the fourth after a short track.

That call earned the pair the nod from the Connecticut Police Work Dog Association. Their statewide recognition is awarded in memory of Milford Police Officer Daniel Wasson, a K-9 handler who was shot and killed in the line of duty decades ago.

"When I got the news, I was really excited, because it was probably one of our biggest achievements so far to get an award like this," says Kaesmann. "And I know there's been a lot of other great handlers that have gotten the award, so it's pretty cool to be a part of that."

But the accomplishments don't stop there for Kaesmann. The 11-year veteran was recently promoted to sergeant and now supervises the K-9 unit and is a team leader for the Emergency Services Unit.

He says these achievements wouldn't be possible without a partner like Maverick.

"It's literally hundreds of hours of training we put in with these dogs," says Kaesmann. "For him to respond and do what he's supposed to do is a really cool feeling."