Denver police shot and killed a pit bull Sunday as its teeth sank into an officer’s hand, severely injuring the officer.
The large dog attacked the unidentified police officer about 9 a.m. at the Driftwood Motel, just off East Colfax Avenue in Denver, according to Detective John White, Denver police spokesman.
Officers had gone to the motel to arrest Donovan Sommerville, who was being sought on felony arrest warrants.
Police ordered Sommerville and the dog’s owner, Deliah Penney, to put the animal in the bathroom, but it escaped and attacked while Sommerville was being arrested, police said.
Penney has had trouble in the past with a pit bull. She was found guilty of a pit-bull violation in August and fined $91, Denver court records show. It is unknown whether the dog in Sunday’s attack is the same animal.
The dog clamped down on the officer’s hand and held tight. At least two officers fired at the dog several times, killing it, according to White, who said he did not know if the injured officer fired his gun.
“Apparently, the dog did not want to let go,” said Steve Cooper, division chief of patrol for the Denver Police Department.
The officer may have ligament and tendon damage, according to Cooper.
“The officer suffered a very severe dog bite to his left hand,” Cooper said.
He was taken to Denver Health Medical Center, where he was in fair condition, police said.
Denver police learned where Sommerville was staying when they performed a routine check of vehicles in the motel’s parking lot, according to Sgt. Bob Wyckoff.
There were warrants for Sommerville’s arrest on charges of drug possession, escape and contempt of court, but police determined that the man wanted in those cases had been using Sommerville’s name, Wyckoff said.
Sommerville was placed under arrest while police investigate him on a charge of possession of a controlled substance, White said. Penney was taken into custody on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance and possession of a dangerous animal, police said.
Others in the motel, 1443 Oneida St., heard the commotion and gunfire.
“I heard the police yell, ‘Denver P.D.,’ real loud,” said downstairs neighbor Michael Grooms, who ran to the motel office as soon as he heard the officers. “After the police went in, I heard a dog barking ferociously for 10 to 15 seconds. Then I heard eight shots.”
The motel’s owner, Jean Han, said between “five and eight shots were fired.”
Police have not verified the exact number of shots fired at the animal.
Pit bulls and pit-bull mixes have been illegal in Denver since 1989. The dogs cannot be sold, possessed or kept in the city.
Han had never seen the dog before in the motel, the owner said.
“Housekeeping checks every day, and they have never seen a dog,” Han said.
