Posted on 04/16/2004 5:35:33 PM PDT by ambrose
Story last updated at 7:04 a.m. Friday, April 16, 2004
Pit bull breaks chain twice to attack mechanic, police officer
BY STEVE REEVES
Of The Post and Courier Staff
Dennis Nobili shook his head as he held up the now-shredded pair of jeans he was wearing Wednesday night when he was attacked by a large pit bull in downtown Charleston.
"Look at this," the 38-year-old North Charleston man said as he stood on the porch of his mother's King Street apartment and displayed a mangled, blood-stained mess of fabric. "He tore me up pretty good."
It took about 180 stitches to close the gaping wounds that the dog, which weighs an estimated 70 to 80 pounds, left in Nobili's arms and legs. The same pit bull later attacked a Charleston police officer who also needed stitches.
It was the third serious attack by a pit bull in the Charleston area in less than a week. On Sunday, a pit bull and black Labrador mix attacked a 5-year-old boy in North Charleston. The boy required more than 40 stitches in his right leg. That dog was destroyed. The dog's owner was not charged.
On Wednesday, two young girls were victims of a pit bull attack, according to Charleston County Sheriff's deputies.
In that incident, the two middle school students were walking to a bus stop on Fort Johnson Road on James Island at about 7:30 a.m. when a pit bull ran out of a yard and attacked them, according to Lt. Mikel Benton of the sheriff's office. One of the girls was knocked to the ground. Neither was seriously injured and EMS officials were not called to the scene, Benton said.
The attacks followed the seizure of 47 pit bulls last week in rural Charleston County near Ravenel. All or most of those dogs could be destroyed if a judge decides to turn them over to the county. Police said they think the animals were bred for illegal dog-fighting matches and that experts consider them too dangerous for rehabilitation.
As for the most recent pit bull attack, Nobili said he had been around the dog "hundreds of times" without incident whenever he had visited the dog's owner, Chevel Middleton, at his Harris Street apartment over the past three years.
Nobili, a mechanic who said he often works on Middleton's car, went to Middleton's apartment about 11 p.m. Wednesday to deliver an auto part. Middleton wasn't home, so Nobili said he dropped off the part on the front porch and turned to leave. The pit bull, as usual, was chained up, and Nobili said he barely paid attention to it.
"But this time I guess I got a little too close," he said.
The pit bull strained at the chain, which snapped, and went straight for Nobili. "He grabbed ahold of me, and that was it. I'd get one part out of his mouth, and he'd just grab another part."
Nobili said he quickly found himself in a no-holds-barred fight with the pit bull, who first bit his legs and worked his way up to Nobili's arms, ripping his flesh with each fresh attack. The two rolled on the ground for a while, and Nobili at one point broke free and tried to jump a fence. He said the dog grabbed him again and pulled him to the ground. The struggle finally spilled out into the street, but Nobili said no matter how many times he hit or kicked the dog, it wouldn't stop attacking him.
"I couldn't get him off of me no matter what," he said. "I was starting to get worn out, and I was afraid he was going to get me by the throat. "
Help finally arrived in the form of a man whose identity remains unknown. Nobili said the man grabbed the pit bull by his collar with one hand and beat the dog with the other. "After about 10 minutes, he got the dog to let go of me," said Nobili, who began running as soon as he was free. He didn't see the man again.
Nobili flagged down a passing Charleston police cruiser. The officers described Nobili as wearing only shredded pants. His shoes were gone, and he had used his shirt as a makeshift tourniquet to staunch the flow of blood from the deep lacerations to his left arm. He had lacerations up to a half-inch wide on his arms and legs.
Emergency medical workers patched up Nobili before taking him to a hospital. Charleston police then set out to find the dog.
Officer Matthew Frey said he and two other police officers went to Middleton's apartment to talk to him about the attack. The pit bull was again chained to the front porch. As the officers questioned Middleton, he assured them the dog would not bite them.
Frey said he soon discovered otherwise when the dog again broke free from his chain.
"The next thing I know, the dog was lunging at me and took a few good chunks out of my leg," the 25-year-old officer said. "It kind of caught us by surprise."
Frey said the pit bull clamped down hard on his leg and loosened his grip only after being pummeled with Frey's flashlight and being pulled on and choked by the two other officers.
"When I was trying to get the dog off of me, the first thing I wanted to do was make sure he didn't go any farther than my leg," Frey said. "I was definitely fearing for my life."
Frey suffered four puncture wounds and a large gash to his left leg. He is expected to be back at work today.
The pit bull has been impounded and will be observed for 10 days. "After that, we'll go from there," police spokesman Charles Francis said of the dog's fate.
Middleton will have to appear in court next month on four charges, including having a vicious animal and not licensing or vaccinating the dog. He could not be reached for comment.
Despite his painful experience, Nobili said he hopes Middleton will not face charges.
"I don't see how it could be his fault because he had the dog tied up," he said.
Didn't the cops have guns?
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