Joseph Honorable, 29, is charged with owning a dangerous animal, normally a felony with a four-year maximum sentence, but because Honorable has a slew of prior convictions -- some dating back to 1998, he is charged as four-time repeat offender which bumps the maximum sentence to 15 years, according to court records.
This spring, 60-year-old William Ward told a Wyoming District Court judge that on April 5, he was bringing his waste container to the curb in front of his home on 31st Street SW near Byron Center Avenue when the male and female pit bulls came running toward him.
Ward said the dogs acted as a team to attack him as he struggled to keep the container between him and the animals, one of the dogs circled around and came after him.
Ward said one of the dogs leaped toward his face and he raised his arm to protect his head and neck and the dog latched on to the limb bringing the man to the ground and breaking the arm.
Ward said he got up and tried to further protect himself when one of the dogs came at him again and he fell breaking the other arm.
Ward's sister was able to fend off the dogs using an umbrella.
Ward now has metal plates and screws holding his arms together and he still has virtually no use of his right arm that prevented him from working at his job in shipping and receiving.
After the hearing Judge Steve Timmers ordered county animal control to destroy the dogs because they represented a danger. The dogs had been kept in a garage in the mid-Wyoming neighborhood and escaped from their pen before attacking Ward, according to Honorable.
So far, Honorable has not been able to reach a plea agreement with the state, but Assistant Kent County Prosecutor Gregory Boer said the two sides continue to talk.
Honorable is slated to be tried before Kent County Circuit Court Judge Mark Trusock on Sept. 19. He remains free on a $10,000 person recognizance bond.
(Mlive - August 23, 2012)
