Dog Attacks, Stabbed To Death In Stockton Neighbors' Dispute
STOCKTON (CBS13) — A neighborly dispute turned bloody in Stockton on Wednesday night when a dog was stabbed to death, a boyfriend and girlfriend were battered and their neighbor ended up behind bars.
According the victims, their neighbor was angry about the noise they were making and came charging out ready for a fight. That's when they saw he wasn't alone — he had his dog with him.
"Before I knew it, the dog was coming out," Sydney Fernandez said.
But Fernandez only remembers bits and pieces after that.
"He said get 'em, sic 'em."
His wounds show a brutal attack that started with the most mundane of neighborly disputes.
"He was like 'Hey man, your kids are knocking my pictures and stuff, they're banging and stuff and I said, 'Look man, you bang too,'" he said.
He says his neighbor, Isaiah Howard, didn't like his answer and went to get his pit bull.
"The dog grabbed me by my leg and it hurt me so bad, and the whole time I'm trying to get the dog off of me, he's beating me upside the head," Fernandez said.
That's when Brittany saw her boyfriend being mauled and made a split-second decision.
"The only way to stop the dog was to kill it," she said.
She grabbed a knife from the kitchen, ran outside and stabbed the dog to death, but not before the canine got his jaws on her.
"Pit bulls fight 'til death," she said. "They don't stop just because somebody says stop."
While Brittany ended the dog's terrifying attack, she says it only enraged his owner more. Brittany says Howard picked up a broom and began to beat her, even putting her head through her window. Fernandez showed CBS13 the bite marks on his arms and legs.
"I'm hurting, I'm dizzy, I lost a lot of blood yesterday," he said.
Battered and bruised, the couple is recovering from multiple wounds and bites and staying at a family member's home. And they're feeling lucky their three young kids were unhurt.
As for their neighbor?
"I think he's unstable," Brittany said. "That's what I think. I think he don't need to get out."
So the family won't be home for sometime despite their neighbor being locked up facing a list of charges. He's being held on nearly a quarter million dollars bail and is scheduled to face a judge on Friday.
