Batavia Police Officer Shot Stray Pit Bull After Being Attacked: Police

BATAVIA, Ill. - A Batavia Police Department officer shot a stray dog Sunday morning after the pit bull attacked him, police said Tuesday. The dog is expected to survive, and its owner now faces a charge for allowing a dog to run at large in the village.

The police received a report from a passing motorist who spotted a black-and-white pit bull walking loose in the area of West Wilson Street near Lincoln Street at about 9:35 a.m. Sunday, according to a police department press release.

A police officer located the dog on the north side of Wilson Street just west of Harrison Street. The officer got out of his car with a leash, and the dog started showing signs of aggression by barking and digging its paws into the ground, police said. The dog charged at the officer several times, but the officer was able to ward the pit bull off by offering the dog several treats.

After the dog continued to charge at the officer, the officer called for backup.

While waiting for another officer to arrive, a passerby informed the officer he had seen the dog chained up in a yard at 5 N. Harrison St. The officer began to head toward that address when the pit bull charged at the officer at “full speed” with its teeth showing, according to the news release.

The officer was knocked to the ground and was lying on his back when the dog approached within close proximity of the officer.

“...the officer, believing he was in imminent danger of serious injury and fearing for his safety, fired his service weapon at the animal, striking it in the side,” according to the press release.

The wounded dog ran westbound on Wilson Street, and the officer was not injured.

A short time later, another officer arrived on scene and was informed by a passerby that a blood-covered dog attacked another dog near the intersection of Jefferson and Houston streets, police said. The dog’s owner told police his Labrador was attacked while he was walking the dog in the 100 block of North Jefferson Street. The dog’s owner stepped between the two dogs to break up the fight. Neither the dog’s owner nor the Labrador were injured in the attack.

The officers and Kane County Animal Control tracked down the pit bull at his owner’s home at 5 N. Harrison St. The owner, Jennifer Atkinson, 42, has been charged with a dog running at large, which is a city ordinance violation, according to police.

The dog was taken to the vet and is expected to survive.

Police said the pit bull bit a person in April of 2015 in a previous incident.

More charges could be filed in the future. An investigation into the incident is ongoing.

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