Dogs Who Attacked And Injured 2 People, Killed Another Dog In Palatine Are Now Implicated In Elmwood Park Attack
ELMWOOD PARK, Ill. (CBS) -- A pair of dogs behind two attacks in the suburbs last spring has apparently struck again.
Steve Heinz of Elmwood Park said his wife, Aneta, and their 4-year-old retriever mix were attacked while on a walk near 78th and Wellington avenues in the near western suburb.
"I got a phone call from a bystander who was walking their dog at the time as well, and said that, 'Your wife and your dog have been attacked,'" Heinz said.
Lawyers say the same pit bull and Akita attacked two people and their dogs in Palatine in May.
Melenia Teodoro of Palatine, was cited for 13 ordinance violations after her pit bull and Akita attacked two smaller dogs, killing one of them, and also bit their owners on May 24. The citations include dogs running at large, biting of people, and biting of other animals.
Palatine police in the spring also arrested Julia Paulino of Palatine, who was walking the attacking dogs and is related to Teodoro. Paulino was charged with four counts of reckless conduct after police learned she did not secure the dogs with proper collars.
At 6:50 p.m. May 24, Palatine police were called to the area near Greeley and Washington streets in the northwest suburb for a report of a dog attack.
They were told a woman was walking a pit bull and an Akita on leashes, and the two dogs spotted a smaller white dog that another woman was walking on a leash.
The larger dogs slipped out of their walker's control and attacked the smaller dog. The woman who owned the smaller dog tried to shield the animal from the attack and was also bitten.
After the first victim was able to get to safety with her dog, the pit bull and the Akita spotted another small white dog being walked on a leash by a man – and they charged and attacked that dog too.
They also bit the man walking the smaller dog as he tried to defend the animal.
The pit bull and Akita were eventually brought under control and returned to the woman who had been walking them. The man and woman who were bitten were taken to Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights and treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
The first white dog that was bitten was taken to Golf Rose Animal Hospital by Palatine police, and died at the hospital. The second smaller dog was treated at an animal hospital for bite wounds.
Attorneys from the firm Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard, representing the Palatine victims, are now suing the Village of Palatine for its handling of the attacks. Village officials stand by their decision not to euthanize the dogs.