What would you do?
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I was in the Valley of Sin over the weekend helping out a friend. I got a call at 1:30 in the morning from my Son saying he had been chewed up by trying to stop a fight between his pitbulll and a rottweilller. He sounded really shook up which is unusual for him. We were staying at my friend's house which is maybe 6 or 7 city miles from his apt. When we got there he was shaking and very upset. His arms had multiple puncture wounds from the bites from his wrists to his elbows. He had washed the wounds out with peroxide and had ripped up a T shirt to staunch the bleeding. I took one look at the damage and sent my Lady out to an all night drug store to get medical supplies.
After she left he told me he was scared because the owner of the other dog had told him he was going to come after him with a gun and shoot him and the dog. I told him to calm down and relax while she was out getting supplies to patch him up. As she was exiting the parking lot I realized my pistol was in the door pocket of the SUV we were driving. My son had stated that he knew he could not defend himself the way he was shaking and considering the shape his arms were in.
I stood on the landing of the stairwell to block anyone from going up to his apt. Several of the neighbors in the heat of their upset tried to tell me they had to go up to "straighten things out". When I refused to let them by they mumbled and went back down to stand in front of their apts. The owner of the other dog came up and tried to get by me, and when I refused to let him by he gave a glassy eyed look, and I remember thinking, Oh, sh**t he's on drugs.
Someone called the cops and when they showed up, the people in the end apt flagged them down. From where I was standing I could hear the accusations flying right and left, along with demands that the officers had to go drag my son's dog out of the apt and shoot his a**. After listening to the stories and accusations, the officers walked down to where I was standing in the staircase and asked it I was the one with the dog. I said, "NO, the owner of the dog is my son. He is upstairs with bites up to his elbows and my Lady who has a nursing background is out getting medical supplies. We need to get him patched up and calmed down before he has to deal with this. Can you guys go back and calm this lynch mob down? One of them gave me a funny look and asked, "What do you know about this?" I said nothing other than what my son said before I came out here. Anything I told you would be hearsay"
They went back down to the crowd and while they talked again, My Lady came back with the med stuff and did a professional job of cleaning him up. I asked her to leave the pads and bandages off so the officers could see what damage he had from the other dog. From what I could hear they got conflicting stories from the people in the crowd. When they went back to their cars I walked down and asked them what ARS or City statutes they thought would apply in this case. One of them told me honestly, "We don't know, we are calling our Sargeant. I said, "Ok, when you figure it out we'll be waiting to talk with you". Another funny look from them.
They came up and talked to him, with me as a witness. They explained there was nothing they could charge him with due to the fact that the other guy's dog was not on a leash, and neither was my son's dog. (Yeah I know!) When my son said that he had been threatened they looked at him and asked if he wanted to press charges. He made me proud when he said, "No, we were both wrong and I know he was angry. He was just mouthing off. I'm just glad I had guts enough to stop the dog fight and the dogs didn't get hurt real bad." He said that standing there with multiple bleeding puncture wounds on his arms.
As the officers were leaving I asked them what station they were out of, knowing the answer in advance. When they answered, I said, "is John ----- still there? One of them answered, Yeah he was our training Sargeant. I replied, Yeah I thought so. You said and did all the right things. I figured it was him who rubbed off on you." They stopped dead in their tracks and really looked at me then.
If you were presented with that situation, and realized you had no gun, how would you have handled it?
