NORTH CAROLINA -- A FedEx driver was mauled by three dogs Monday as she was attempting a delivery at a house in Winston-Salem, and a man who came to her aid was also bitten, authorities said.
The attack happened at 1228 Gholson Ave. -- the scene of another serious dog attack last year, Tim Jennings, the director of Forsyth County animal control, said Wednesday.
The FedEx driver in the recent attack, Debra Dickerson-King, was taken to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and was released Monday night, Jennings said.
Broderick Boston, a nearby resident who attempted to help Dickerson-King, also was treated for injuries, he said.
Jennings described the dogs as a pit-bull mix.
He identified the owners as Dewane Rickman and Debra Holland of 1228 Gholson Ave.
Holland is blind and was sitting on her porch when the attack happened about 11:41 a.m. Monday, Jennings said.
“The three dogs apparently came racing out of the house and attacked the driver, pulling her to the ground and attacking multiple times,” Jennings said.
The dogs have been seized, and “our intent is that they don’t get the dogs back,” he said.
He said he will meet with the district attorney's office about possible charges in the case.
Rickman received multiple civil citations as a result of an attack involving different dogs last September. Kim Payne, the victim in that case, suffered deep puncture wounds to her thigh and arm before a neighbor beat the dogs off with an aluminum bat.
Rickman was cited for failing to control a vicious animal, cruelty to animals, failing to restrain his dogs, possessing a dangerous dog , not having up to date rabies vaccinations for his dogs, and failing to register his dogs.
“They can charge me with anything they like,” Rickman said in an interview last year. “I don’t have any money to pay them (the citations).”
Jennings said Wednesday that records show that Rickman did not pay his $500 penalty.
Animal control officers seized four adult dogs and seven puppies after the September attack. The adult dogs were euthanized, and the puppies were placed successfully for adoption, he said.
Rickman, though, simply got more dogs, Jennings said.
He said that dog owners need to be held responsible for their animals’ behavior.
“This case is really exceptional and irresponsible to the neighborhood, the community, and we feel to the animals,” Jennings said.
Forsyth County hasn’t had a fatality for a dog attack in many years, he said. But animal-control officers are fielding an increasing number of calls about vicious animals, including dogs. The department had 2,914 animal-bite or vicious behavior reports in 2012, up 82 percent from the number in 2004.
(Winston-Salem Journal - Jun 5, 2013)
