July 5, 2009
- Portland, Oregon
Man tries to stop puppy abuse, gets beaten
By KOMO Staff
CENTRALIA, Wash. -- A 39-year-old Centralia man was assaulted Thursday morning when he tried to stop another man from choking a puppy.
Lewis County sheriff's deputies said the man was walking along Centralia Avenue when he saw another man choking, pulling, and beating a black lab mix with a chain. He yelled at the stranger to stop hurting the puppy, according to the sheriff's spokesperson Stacy Brown. The other man, later identified as Victor Esparza-Hernandez, 44, of Centralia, yelled the dog was his and allegedly continued to hurt the puppy. A verbal dispute ensued and escalated until Esparza-Hernandez began attacking the man, police said. Al Hoodrow, who lives in the area, said he witnessed the violent attack. "The guy takes his dog chain and starts swirling it around in circles and hitting the man with the chain," he said. "You could hear it going 'swshhh-whap! Swshhh-whap!' (He was) wrapping him hard with it." The victim jumped behind a bicycle in an effort to protect himself and called 911 using his cell phone. "I got hit with a chain," the victim told the 911 dispatcher. "He started swinging his chain around and he whacked me across the legs with it." Esparza-Hernandez then fled the scene, but soon came back with a slingshot. He then began pelting the victim with rocks, striking him in the neck and shoulder, prompting the victim to place another 911 call. "He's back over here, shooting a slingshot at me," he said to the dispatcher. The victim took cover behind a truck but Esparza-Hernandez picked up a large "frisbee-sized" rock and threw it at the victim striking him in the lower back, according to the police report. "(He) was shooting him with the slingshot and after that, he grabbed a big rock and smacked the guy in the back and laid him down in the concrete," said Hoodrow. The impact of the rock caused the victim to immediately collapse to the ground. The victim told police he could not feel his legs, and he was later taken to Providence Hospital in Centralia by ambulance. He is said to be in satisfactory condition. Esparza-Hernandez fled the scene on foot, but was soon caught. He was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail on suspicion of second-degree assault. The puppy, which belonged to a friend of Esparza-Hernandez's, reportedly is doing OK. He has been returned to his owner. |
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