12-year-old girl attacked by pit bull in Lincoln Park neighborhood

Father says his children are afraid to leave home after attack

LINCOLN PARK, Mich. – When a pit bull in a Lincoln Park neighborhood was on the loose on Sept. 13, Tony Burgess' son and his friend ran into the house.

Burgess then went outside to locate his 12-year-old daughter Emma.

A neighbor’s home security camera captured the attack. The dog races up to Emma on her bike with the dog’s owners close behind. Moments later, the 9-month-old dog bites her leg.

“My only instinct was to keep punching the dog until he let go,” Burgess said.

They raced Emma to the hospital where the deep gashes in her leg required 35 stitches.

“These kids are afraid to play. I won’t let them come out. They don’t want to come out,” Burgess said.

Burgess said the dog was taken by Lincoln Park Animal Control and quarantined for days. It is now back at its home a few houses away on Garfield Street.

The dog’s owner refused to comment on the dog or the incident.

“That dog should not be sitting in that house right now,” Burgess said.


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Jason is Local 4’s utility infielder. In addition to anchoring the morning newscast, he often reports on a variety of stories from the tragic, like the shootings at Michigan State, to the off-beat, like great gas station food.