FLORIDA -- A process server who delivers court papers to Broward homes said she was bitten and bruised by a dog after its owners sent it to attack.
“The only thing I recall is doing this to protect my face,” said Yindra Lopez. “The dogs kept biting over here and over here and they were not stopping the dogs.”
Lopez said she was attacked by a 200-pound Bull Mastiff named Riley, who she said bit her on her arms and upper legs.
[In the video clip, the dog is described as a pit bull mastiff]
“I noticed that my arms started bleeding,” Lopez said. “I take the phone and I called 911.”
Lopez told NBC 6 that she followed court procedures when she arrived to serve papers at the Broward home. She said she identified herself with her ID card and her legal papers through the window.
One of the dogs attacked when homeowner Michele Henderson opened the door, according to Lopez.
“Her and her husband were saying, ‘Get her! Get her! Get her!’” Lopez said.
The Hendersons denied the claim. They told NBC 6 that Lopez opened the driveway gate and that they were concerned she was a burglar because she never identified herself.
“We would have accepted the paperwork,” Henderson said.
The couple also said that their Bull Mastiff Riley is friendly and that they had the gate locked and a “beware of dog” sign on their property.
Lance Randall of the Florida Association of Professional Process Servers said he thinks the homeowners should be prosecuted.
“I think the residents who let the dogs out to intentionally attack the process server should be arrested,” said Randall.
The final Broward Sheriff’s Office report has not been completed and an official bite complaint has not been filed with Animal Control.
Lopez is on antibiotics and wants the dog checked out.
(NBC Miama - March 27, 2012)
