| Honolulu Advertiser, November 22, 1995. Also reprinted in the summer 1996 issue of the ADBA Gazette. Last November, our dogs were awarded with a letter of appreciation from the HPD Chief of Police for their assistance in the capture of a felon who was the object of a manhunt in our area. The suspect (with 31 prior arrests, out on parole for assault) had eluded a four hour extensive search involving police on foot, patrol car, and police helicopter. He had been burglarizing homes in our area for over 4 months and terrifying people by sneaking in their houses even while they were home. That morning was a busy one. We were planning on breeding Coco with Snapper and that day was to be the first breeding in her cycle. After the breeding took place I wanted Coco to be still and rest for a while. I decided to put all four dogs on their chains so that Coco would not be running around playing with them as they usually do all day long. It is a very rare thing for our dogs to ever be tied, but I wanted her to rest. So, I had Coco tied next to my husband's Model A Ford, and the three others in the back on the patio. I did hear the police chopper in our area that morning for several hours but it all became very quiet around noon. At about 1 p.m., I was upstairs working when I heard shouting in my neighbors yard. I went outside to investigate and saw an officer pop up in the next yard. He said they were searching for a man who was running through the properties around here. I told him I was home alone and that I was going to unleash my dogs so the guy wouldn't even think of coming in my yard. Little did I know he already was in my yard! After releasing three dogs on the patio, I came around to the front of the house and found Coco at the very end of her chain scratching and growling at something under the Model A. I bent down to unclip her and that's when I saw HIM, the crazy lunatic they were looking for, under the car on his belly, frozen with fear with Coco's snarling face only inches away. At that point, I grabbed Coco by the collar, pulled her back and began yelling for the police. The guy started crawling out from under the car; I guess he thought since I was restraining Coco he'd try his luck slipping past me. (It was at this point I noticed Coco shook him up so badly, he'd peed in his pants!) Meanwhile, the police heard my cries for help and ran to my back fence in the neighbor's yard. Unfortunately, Jammer, Shadow, and Snapper saw the commotion going on in the back yard and decided to do their doggy guarding duty at the back fence and keep the POLICE OUT. The police had their guns drawn, pointing through our chain link fence, and shouted at the guy to stop. Obviously he didn't feel like listening to them because he kept on trying to ease past Coco and I. He alternately looked like he was thinking about grabbing me or trying his luck running past the cops behind the fence. Coco could sense my apprehension and fear. That made her extremely upset and she really went off then. I held onto her collar as best I could and yelled at the man to please not come near me or I'd have to let her go. I knew there was a lot of tension in my voice and when the other three dogs heard me screaming they tore themselves away from the back fence that they were so diligently guarding and came ripping around the corner of the house to the front where we were. And there we were. Me and Coco on one side, the guy in the middle, and Snapper, Jammer, and Shadow effectively blocking any exit from the opposite side. The guy turns and looks at me, then looks at the dogs on the other side. I could see him weighing his chances on a mad dash. So I begged him to PLEASE, please not to run; to just hold real still and not move. Thankfully, he wisely put his hands up and said "OK, I quit, I quit". I yelled for the police to hurry into the yard. They were very brave and came pouring into my yard then, even with the very agitated state my dogs were in. They found their guy surrounded by four pit bulls with his hands still up in the air. It took them just a couple of minutes or so to wrestle the guy down on the ground, subdue him, cuff him and carry him out my front gate. All the while I'm trying to calm the dogs who were still quite unhappy with the whole strange situation. Here's this guy who scared their mom (me) on the ground in front of them and all these other dark-suited strangers scuffling, yelling and running around excitedly. Definitely a new experience for the normally peaceful and quiet lives we lead. I am very, very proud of these dogs because even in the heat of a tense moment, no one, not criminal nor any of the dozen or so officers in the yard, was bitten or injured in any way. With all the negative media attention the American Pit Bull Terrier seems to get nowadays, I think it's doubley important to get the word out that these dogs are not the blood-thirsty vicious man biters tabloid newspapers and TV shows make them out to be. They reacted with great judgment in this situation, protecting their master and property without any undue force. Their behavior that day has made them well known here as the "Hero Pit Bulls" and has brought a lot of positive mentions in the news etc. for this misunderstood breed. I hope others will become interested in finding out the truth and facts about the American Pit Bull Terrier, instead of only hearing the sensationalized one-sided misconceptions bandied about in the media. Sergeant Damon Purdy of the Honolulu Police Department was the officer in charge of the manhunt. He has become a great fan of the APBT now and came to our house to visit and take pictures with the dogs that helped him and his boys capture a bad guy. That's his picture on the Bulldog's Page Photo Gallery with our four dogs. This happened on last November and we're still getting lots of calls about it. And that's the way it was! |
| PROWLERS vs. GROWLERS: PIT BULLS NAB A SUSPECT |
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