MPPD Officer Bit By Dog

Sgt. Chris Bruton

Early Wednesday morning at 1 AM Mount Pleasant Police officers had just cleared from an arrest of a publicly intoxicated person at the Heritage Apartments located at 1434 West 16th St when an officer was attacked by a dog. MPPD Sergeant Chris Bruton was walking back to his patrol vehicle about to leave the location when a pit bull dog snuck up from behind him and bit the officer on the back of his calf.

Sergeant Bruton reported he did not know the dog was coming up from behind him and did not have time to react to the attack. Body camera video clearly shows the officer was surprised by the dog attack. The dog made no noise as it approached. By the time the officer was able to turn to see what had happened to him, the dog was already darting away from the officer.

This is the second time in two days where dogs approached and either tried to bite or did bite an officer.

It is illegal to have an animal at large in public in the City of Mount Pleasant. These two incidents were not stray dogs running loose. These dogs belonged to people and were intentionally allowed to run outside in a public area without being on a leash.

Sadly, on Tuesday an officer had to shoot a pit bull dog to prevent the dog from attacking him. In that incident the officer was investigating a report of a 9 year old child being bit by a pit bull dog and had just made contact with the dog owner. Two officers were standing near the street in the 1400 Block of Delafield when that dog charged and attempted to bite one of the officers. The dog attack on the 9 year old child is still under investigation.

Sgt. Bruton received medical attention for the dog bite. Two dogs were seized in the incident at Heritage Apartments by Animal Control and are now quarantined. The owner was cited for Animals at Large and No Rabies Vaccinations. A dangerous dog hearing will be requested due to the attack.
Historically, Mount Pleasant Police receive about 20 animal bite reports a year.