JEANNETTE, Pa. -- Police on Monday shot and killed an aggressive dog that had trapped a postal worker outside a house in Jeannette, WTAE Channel 4's Jennifer Miele reported.
The postal worker was able to call the post office, and employees there called police officers, who then went to the home on Gaskill Avenue on Monday morning.
"My officers were real close to the scene. They got there within 30 seconds," Police Chief Jeff Stahl said.
Two pit bulls were barking at the letter carrier on the porch, and one of the dogs charged at a police officer, who shot the animal dead as it was coming at him, Stahl said.
Andre Crosby, who owns the dogs, became irate and started yelling foul language at police and was cited on a disorderly conduct charge after being warned to step back, Stahl said.
"It almost came to that point where we had to use a Taser to stop him from coming towards us," Stahl said.
The dog that was shot -- a 2-year-old named Scrappy -- was not licensed and did not have rabies shots, and the owner will be cited for that, police said.
After the shooting, the man calmed down and told Miele that he apologizes to the letter carrier and is glad nobody got hurt.
"If I was at home, it would have never happened," Crosby said.
Crosby said he got Scrappy for protection after his home was burglarized. The dog, along with his other pit bull, somehow escaped in "a freak accident" while he was at work, he said.
"Any other times, them dogs are always in the house," Crosby said. "Or if they are out, they are out with me -- especially the one that got killed, because I knew the type of temperament he had, so I would not just let him run loose in these streets because I knew what type of dog he was."
Police allowed Crosby to keep the pit bull that was not shot.
The letter carrier declined an interview with Channel 4 Action News, but acting postmaster Sue Bartko released this statement:
"The carrier was trapped on the porch. He contacted me at the post office, and I contacted 911. I drove out there to see if I could at least get the carrier in the car. I parked across the street. Two dogs were running around loose. When the officer arrived, I saw the dog charge the officer. We thank Jeannette police for their great service, arriving on scene so quickly, and thanks to them, there was no injury to myself or the carrier."
Last month, Jeannette police shot and killed a 70-pound rottweiler that had gotten out of a yard on Scott Avenue and started roaming around its owners' neighborhood.
Last week, Latrobe police shot two pit bull mixes to death after they attacked a neighbor's shih tzu on James Street. A third dog involved in that incident was put down.
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