Neighbors, deputy pull pit bull off man in Pierce County
SOUTH HILL, Wash. -- It took three neighbors and a deputy, who opened fire, to free a man from the jaws of a pit bull this week, the Pierce County Sheriff's Department says.
At one point, a neighbor tried to use a metal pry bar to get the dog's jaw off the victim.
The incident took place late Wednesday afternoon in the 15500 block of 119th Avenue Court Southeast.
A deputy arrived to find a man on the ground. He was covered in blood, and another man was holding a T-shirt against a wound on the victim's arm. The pit bull was biting down on the man's leg, and a second man was pulling on the dog's legs to get it away. A third man was also helping.
One man was able to throw the dog away. It started circling around the victim and the others, the Pierce County Sheriff's Department says.
The deputy fired several times at the dog, The Sheriff's Department did not say whether the dog was hit.
The deputy then called for help from paramedics and applied a tourniquet to the victim's arm. He was taken to the hospital.
A woman told the deputy it all began as she was giving the victim, who is a friend, a ride. The pit bull and another dog were in the back seat.
She and the man were playfully arguing about music on the radio, when the pit bull lunged and bit the man on the face.
She stopped the car, and the man ran away. The dog was able to catch him and pull him down. The woman got the dog back into the car, but the dog jumped out off an open window and attacked the man again.
The three men who tried to help him all live in the neighborhood. The man who used a pry bar suffered puncture wounds on his hands.
Officers with Pierce County Animal Control took the dog for further investigation.
