Those details were consistent through the testimony of four people who were at the house on Mershon near Weiss on May 18, but other details varied in their versions of the story given during a dangerous dog hearing at the Saginaw County Governmental Center on Tuesday, June 4.
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| Dog-bite victim Joel Cronk uses a cane to walk back to his seat in the courtroom after testifying. |
The pit bull that bit a Saginaw man during the fight will be destroyed after the order of Saginaw County District Judge M.T. Thompson.
The three-hour hearing included testimony of three people involved in the fight, the dog's owner, a friend of the owner and the dog-bite victim, as well as a witness and girlfriend of the bite victim, the father of the dog owner and a Saginaw police officer.
Each witness gave testimony of the night's events, with Joel Cronk, 25, using a cane to walk to the stand, first.
He testified that the dog's owner, Dillon Woods, and his friend, Raphael Luna, "surrounded" Cronk in the yard, and Luna started the fight. Cronk said the pit bull was by Woods' side, as usual, when the fight began.
Cronk said the dog attacked him during the fight.
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| A Saginaw County judge ordered that a pit bull be euthanized following a dangerous dog hearing on June 4, 2013. |
Woods, the resident of the house, and Luna both testified that Cronk threw the first punch.
Woods testified that the dog, Casper, was inside the house and watched the altercation through a sliding glass door, climbing onto the toilet and jumping out a window to join the fight.
Amber Martinez, who came with Cronk to Woods' house, testified she was inside with the three men and the dog, and "everything was fine." But when she left the group and went to the back yard to make a phone call, she heard a commotion in the front yard and walked around to see the fight starting.
"Dillon's friend was pretty much trying to start a fight," Martinez said, adding that the fight began and both Woods and Luna were fighting Cronk. She said Woods made a hissing sound and the dog attacked Cronk.
"It happened pretty fast, maybe two to four minutes," she said.
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| Joel Cronk II of Saginaw has to stay off his feet for two to four months due to a dog attack. Doctors told him that there may be a risk for amputation if his left leg gets infected. Cronk said when he went over to a friends' house to speak with him about a fight they were having, his friend and another person assaulted him before siccing the dog on him. "I didn't care about the punches," Cronk said. "I just cared about the dog bites." |
Woods' father, Dennis Woods, testified that he was at the home on the evening of the fight and advised Cronk to leave before he left the location himself. Woods stated that he knew Cronk owed Dillon Woods money, and when Cronk told him he did not have the money, Dennis Woods knew there could be problems.
The judge ordered the pit bull, now detained at the Saginaw County Animal Care Center, to be destroyed.
"I don't believe Mr. Woods and Mr. Luna when they say Mr. Cronk threw the first punch," Thomspon said while handing down the decision.
He noted that a previous pit bull that Woods owned was euthanized after it attacked someone in 2012.
The judge said he found Martinez's version of the night's events to be believable that "Luna initiated, Woods joined in and the two of them were double-teaming Mr. Cronk at one point," Thompson said.
He noted that her testimony included that Woods made a hissing noise just before the dog attacked.
"It's highly likely in the court's opinion that Mr. Woods did sic the dog on Mr. Cronk," Thompson said.
"The court does not find that the animal was protecting its owner or any pups in an undisclosed location inside the house," he added.
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| Dillon Woods, the owner of a pit bull involved in an attack, listens to testimony in the courtroom during a dangerous dog hearing June 4. |
Woods shook his head, and a woman in the courtroom began crying as Thompson ordered that the dog be destroyed.
Meanwhile, the Saginaw Police Department has stopped pursuing criminal charges related to the case, according to Joel Cronk. However, he said he and Woods were good friends in the past, and his goal in the case was to have the dog put down, not to get Woods in trouble.
Cronk said he got some good news during a check-up on his birthday, June 3, that his wounds are healing and he has avoided infection so far. Doctors told him infection could lead to amputation. His left leg, which was the most severely injured, has to remain bandaged for now, Cronk said.
(MLive - June 5, 2013)
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