Cops Forced to Kill Attacking Pit Bull on Upper East Side

NEW YORK (1010 WINS)  -- Three officers investigating a report of fighting, drugs and prostitution at a Manhattan apartment were injured by bullet fragments after they fired on a pit bull that escaped out the door, officials said Thursday.


Eileen Lehpamer reports

Officers knocked at the apartment on Manhattan's Upper East Side late Wednesday after an emergency call citing a lengthy list of problems at the address, including a constant flow of people in and out of the dwelling for drugs, possible weapons and fighting, police said.

Tenant Millagros Martinez called through the door that she needed a minute, then opened and the pit bull named Baby escaped, police said. The growling, barking dog charged three officers standing down the hall who fired a total of five shots. The bullets ricocheted in the hallway, hitting the officers and Martinez.

The officers and Martinez, 42, suffered minor injuries, said chief New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne. The dog died.

Meanwhile, backup officers arrived and entered the apartment to discover a crack pipe with drug residue, Browne said. Martinez and five others inside, some of whom told police they lived at the apartment, were arrested on a charge of criminal possession of a controlled substance.

Browne said the people inside were told by Martinez' boyfriend to toss or flush any drugs they had on them before police entered. No weapons were found in the apartment.

There was no phone listing at the apartment address.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the city had tried to evict the tenants but a family court judge put them back in. Martinez' boyfriend told police the two had been arguing earlier in the evening over money.

Browne said it was not uncommon for officers to be involved in a dog shooting. In the past decade, there are on average about 30 shootings involving dogs, mostly pit bulls, according to police statistics.

``Pit bulls are a continuous threat to police officers,'' Browne said. ``People engaged in crime train them to be vicious, and as a result (officers) come into contact with them frequently.''