San Mateo Police Run Over, Kill 'Vicious' Pit Bull to Stop Attack

A San Mateo police officer used his patrol vehicle to run over two large aggressive dogs Wednesday after they attacked a series of people, and even going after kids in a stroller, police said.

The first of several people who called the police reported that he had been attacked and almost bitten by two large pit bulls in the 600 block of Woodside Way at around 9:35 a.m., according to a news release from the San Mateo Police Department.

“As SMPD officers began responding to the area, three more callers reported two vicious dogs in the same area that were chasing people including a City Sanitation worker,” police said.

Responding officers tried to distract or corral the dogs— which weighed an estimated 55 to 70 pounds each— repeatedly as they attacked a landscaper, who fought them off with a leaf blower, according to police. A photo of the leaf blower, which the dogs bit as the man was fending them off, is attached above.

Police then tried to get the dogs’ attention elsewhere. But they weren’t happy about that.

“The SMPD officer diverted the dogs’ attention using his air horn and the dogs sprinted back towards his patrol vehicle, now lunging at the vehicle and attacking the driver side door as the officer tried unsuccessfully to exit the vehicle, with both dogs viciously clawing and biting at the door,” police said.

A photo of the vehicle is also attached.

The dogs then ran toward San Mateo High School along East Bellevue Avenue, prompting dispatchers to advise administrators to keep students and staff indoors for their safety.

“Additional SMPD officers arrived on scene [near the high school] hoping to move their vehicles into a position to safely contain the vicious animals, a process made more and more difficult as the dogs moved quickly and grew more aggressive as the situation evolved rapidly,” police said.

That’s when police say the dogs went for a women and children.

“...Officers watched as the dogs sprinted towards a woman with two children in a stroller, forcing the woman to shield the children with her own body as the animals grew closer,” police said.

Police were ultimately able to direct the dogs away from the women and children, using their horns and shouting at the animals to get them to focus on something else.

However, the dogs then went after yet another woman and child.

“The dogs then proceeded westbound on East Poplar Avenue where they barked aggressively at a second woman and small child waiting in the crosswalk before the dogs’ attention was redirected a third time by officers on scene who were still attempting to safely corral the aggressive pit bulls,” police said.

Later, the dogs ran toward the Stanbridge Academy, leading officers to resort to the use of force as they approached a second school campus where children were present.

That’s when police say they were forced to take more drastic measures.

“Unable to corral the dogs as they now moved aggressively towards a second school campus with children present and based on the obvious and repeated vicious behavior of the dogs, as well as the continuing imminent threat of great bodily injury or death that their actions continued to present to the community, one SMPD officer used his patrol vehicle to strike both dogs within the 500 block of East Poplar Avenue,” police said.

One of the dogs was killed instantly, police said. The other survived the impact after being knocked to the ground, then retreated to its nearby residence where it was eventually seized by animal control.

The dogs’ owners showed great remorse for their dogs’ behavior and cooperated with the subsequent investigation, according to police.

While still at the home, police learned that one woman had been bitten by both of the dogs before police arrived on the scene, suffering puncture wounds and cuts to her lower leg and bicep. She was treated and released with minor injuries.

In their statement Wednesday, police said that they were “saddened” that officers were forced to kill the dogs.

“It is always our first intention to respond to and remedy aggressive or wild animal incidents in the most humane manner possible,” the statement read. “It’s unfortunate that the events of this incident did not allow for that to happen.”