A wild pursuit through the streets of Brooklyn came to a bloody end in a backyard on Wednesday when a pitbull mauled one of two men police were looking to stop — and cops wound up shooting the dog dead to prevent it from killing the suspect.
Police did not immediately disclose the crime for which they pursued the two suspects at about 1:20 p.m. on Nov. 11. Officers from the 63rd and 70th Precinct chased the individuals to the vicinity of 563 East 29th St. in Flatbush, where the individuals ditched their ride and began running on foot.
The men entered the backyard of the East 29th Street location, where they encountered what was described as a large pitbull who attacked one of the two men and began mauling him. The man with him tried to pull the dog off, but he too was bitten by the large canine.
Police confronted the dog, mauling the man, believed the too were in danger and they shot the dog. EMS pronounced the dog deceased at the scene.
“What the hell was that? It sounded like it was right here in my kitchen,” said Anthony Gomez, a resident of East 29th Street who heard the rapid fire of police gunfire.
Both men were rushed to Kings County Hospital, the younger of the two suffering severe lacerations from dog attack, and possibly struck by a bullet that ricocheted off a concrete wall. They were in stable condition, officials said, with charges pending.
Investigators reported that one of the two men allegedly dropped a handgun that may have been used in a previous shooting, though police sources could not confirm that.
After the dog was killed, the pitbull’s owner began arguing with police on the scene. That ended in a shoving match with police and numerous officers tackling the irate man to the ground to take him into custody. P0lice did not yet report if the man was charged.
Two other young men were also detained after they tried to enter the crime scene to reach the dead dog.
Michelle Laurie, a neighbor, identified the dog a Casper, a 3-year-old 150 pound pitbull who she described as “auntie to Casper” and was “lovable and only protecting his home.”
“Casper was amazing – he was born on that block, raised in my back yard, he played with the kids and had play dates with two other dogs on the block,” Laurie said. “He was the best friend of my dog and so I can’t even understand – they played – if you threw that stick, it didn’t matter how far, he would fetch that stick and bring it right back so quickly. He played with my children, babies – it was not a dog that needed to be feared.”
Laurie said there was enormous chaos during the moment before the shooting.
“I was scared, but if I wasn’t I would’ve been able to really grab him and pull him in the back, but he was just dead set about what was going on back there, it was just too much,” Laurie said.
A woman who would not identify herself said the shooting was “unnecessary.”
“I was standing over the dog – they didn’t have to shoot the dog,” she cried.
Another resident, Tyreek Smith, said he is a trainer of large dogs and “the dog was only protecting his property.”
“You gotta know how to handle a dog – there are ways to do it without having to shoot the dog,” said Tyreek, saying he has a Youtube video entitled, “welcome to man’s best friend.”.
“They didn’t have to shoot that dog – the dog was acting the way he should,” Tyreek added.
Last week, a similar situation occurred in Bedford-Stuyvesant, where a pitbull cornered a suspected car thief in a backyard. The owners of that dog were able to control the k9 and the man was taken into custody.
