Man In His Eighties Clinging To Life After Being Attacked By Five Pit Bulls In His Own Yard; Dogs Were Reported To Police Numerous Times Months Before Incident

Last updated on Sept. 7, 2019 at 9:25 a.m.

ST. CROIX — A man in his eighties was “losing a lot of blood” and clinging to life on Wednesday night after being viciously attacked by five pit bull dogs that rushed him in his own yard.

According to several individuals who witnessed the attack, some of whom were also attacked by the dogs previously, the man was in his yard when the dogs rushed him and started barbarously biting his flesh. As the attack was occurring, frightful and angry neighbors called for help. They called 911 seeking immediate reponse — doing so with a high level of frustration as they had reported the dogs numerous times before to police with little results.

According to the neighbors, the wild pit bull dogs, 7 in total, belong to a neighbor at the beginning of the street. This neighbor, a man, had been urged many times to properly secure the dogs in his yard because of the animals’ aggressive behavior toward the community, the neighbors said. The dogs have attacked virtually every family in the small neighborhood, according to multiple eyewitness.

They recently attacked an elderly, deaf man, and had to be shouted away by a frightened neighbor. On Saturday, they attacked a man, his son and two daughters who were walking the main road of the neighborhood and attempting to get into a vehicle. The father had a knife and managed to slash one of the dogs. Days before, the dogs stormed the yard of another neighbor, forcing family members to run inside their home and quickly close a metal gate of their porch. Video recorded of the incident shows the dogs barking at the family who were confined to their home until the dogs left.

The elderly man was badly injured by the five dogs. Pictures the Consortium has seen show what appears to be the man’s right foot disfigured with wounds and blood all over it; his chin showed a gaping wound and a deep gash under his lower lip. When an ambulance arrived on the scene, the man was placed on a stretcher and was rushed to the Juan F. Luis Hospital for treatment, where family members said he was losing blood. In critical condition, he was airlifted out of the territory to a medical facility for further treatment, family members said.

The Clifton Hill neighborhood where the incident occurred is on the 3rd street to the left when coming from the Melvin Evans Highway by the Container Port intersection. Neighbors said they had called police multiple times to the location to report the dogs. Police officers, they said, came to the area but said they could do nothing but admonish the dog owner to keep his pit bulls in the yard. The neighbors felt like the community was let down by the police department, as several incidents were reported and no serious action was taken.

St. Croix Police Chief William Harvey, who was on the scene, said the man whose yard the dogs were supposed to be secured in, whose identity was not revealed at the time, had been arrested. The dogs were also taken away and were to be put down. A police report on the incident is expected to be released with more details about the arrest and the suspect.

At least one of the pit bulls, which neighbors described as the aggressive ring leader, was coming toward this reporter when he arrived on the scene from the main entrance. Its mouth was made red by the elderly man’s blood, and it was still enraged, barking as it came closer. “Go in your car!” the neighbors, who know all too well of the dogs’ violent nature, yelled. “It will attack you. Get in your car!”

Feature image shows blooded bedding belonging to the elderly man who was attacked by the dogs. The area seen in the image is the location of the man’s yard where he was attacked.