Make wishtv.com your home page

Officer helps save man from pit bull attack in Pike Township

PIKE TOWNSHIP (WISH) — A man is recovering after police said he was attacked by three loose pit bulls on the northwest side of Indianapolis.

It happened in the 6800 block of Middleton Court Thursday.

Pike Township Police said the man was taken to the hospital with punctured wounds. Police said the victim was mowing the lawn in the backyard when the dogs attacked him.

An officer arrived on scene and was able to get the dogs off of the man using his baton.

“I was in my room lying down at around the time it happened and I just heard like a yell, like a scream, and I heard some dogs barking,” said Fatima Diaz, neighbor.

Fatima Diaz and her family live down the street from where the attack happened.

She claimed she has seen the same dogs loose several times before. She said the last time was the day before the attack.

“I was really scared because I’ve been attacked by a dog before,” said Diaz. “I’m really scared of them and when we saw them in my backyard, I was really scared.”

Diaz said her mom was sitting in the backyard when the dogs came running through.

“I was inside and my mom she was yelling at us because she was in the backyard on the balcony on like the third step,” said Diaz. “She thought she was going to get attacked by the dogs.”

Diaz said her mom rushed inside of the house and the dogs ran off.

Her sister took a couple of photos of the dogs and shared them with 24-Hour News 8.

“It’s shocking because there’s not really a pit bull problem in this neighborhood,” said Tracie Rhim, neighbor. “There are a few dogs that run loose. It has been an issue, ongoing.”

Other people living in the neighborhood like Tracie Rhim said she’s surprised by the news.

“We have a couple of little dogs that run loose. As far as pit bulls, there’s only really one pit bull that I’ve ever seen loose,” said Rhim. “I did say something to the owner the day before yesterday that if they didn’t leash it, I was going to call animal control.”

Rhim told 24-Hour News 8 it’s a concern because her daughters are always playing outside with other neighborhood kids during the summer.

She said she never had a problem with the owner in question.

“I’ve always seen him with his dogs leashed when he does walk with them and he usually doesn’t walk them through the neighborhood,” said Rhim. “They’re usually walked up to the main street, 71st Street, and out that way and they’re always leashed so it’s shocking if that’s who it was.”

Indianapolis Animal Care and Control ended up removing the three dogs and a fourth one not involved in the attack.

A community outreach coordinator said it will be up to a judge to decide what to do next with the dogs.

24-Hour News 8 stopped by the owner’s home, but no one came to the door.

Police said the officer was not hurt and the victim is expected to be OK.