WBNS News (Ohio)
A Columbus police officer was attacked by a pit bull and ended up having to go to the hospital. The dog’s owner says it’s not the animal’s fault.
Officer Joseph Martin needed stitches on his neck after tangling with the pit bull. The attack happened when the officer was chasing a suspect through a house and stumbled over the sleeping dog.
It happened at 4 a.m. Tuesday at a home on Davis Avenue. James Stewart says his girlfriend was standing in the doorway when officers tried to arrest her.
“She was disorderly. I’m not afraid to admit that,” Stewart said.
Police were at the house to handle a domestic violence report, and they said Deanna Summers ran into the house into a back bedroom with the officer on her heels.
“And my dog’s lying there at the foot of the bed,” Stewart said.
Police say the officer stumbled over this pregnant pit bull, and the fight was on.
“The dog felt threatened. We obviously were on their territory. The dog is pregnant. It jumped up and attacked the officer biting him in the neck,” police spokesperson Sherry Mercurio said.
Officer Martin went to Mount Carmel West Hospital just a couple blocks away. He received several stitches in his neck. The department says Officer Martin’s injuries are not serious.
The woman he was chasing, Deanne Summers, went to jail for resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.
The pit bull wound detained as well, at the Franklin County Dog Shelter. Her owner says that’s not fair.
“I’m sorry about the officer. I am, I truly am,” Stewart said, “but I’m trying to prove to everybody that my dog is not vicious.”
If Stewart wants his dog back, he’ll have to attend a hearing in front of a judge within 10 days of the attack.