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Dog’s owner gets plea deal
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
YOUNGSTOWN
The owner of a large Rottweiler dog that has attacked two people in six months pleaded guilty to two felony charges.
Nathan Haynes, 31, of Judson Avenue, originally was charged with two misdemeanors for reportedly not properly confining his dog and two felonies, one for reportedly not confining the dog and another for the dog’s making the reported attack on a 10-year-old boy in January.
Haynes, who is free on a $10,000 bond, pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of failure to confine or restrain a dog. Both charges are felonies.
Haynes is scheduled to be sentenced April 28 by Judge Lou D’Apolito of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. Haynes could get up to three years in prison on the charges, but prosecutors, as part of the plea agreement, have recommended probation.
Police said the boy was walking from the old Stambaugh School up the street when the dog broke loose from its chain at 2339 Donald Ave. and attacked him. The boy said he was not trying to call the dog or get its attention when the dog rushed him.
The dog grabbed the boy’s forearm, pulled him to the ground and began dragging him around, police said.
The boy’s arm had to be stitched, but the wound required time to heal and was left open after stitching to allow proper drainage. The boy’s mother said her son was shaken after the attack and suffers from nightmares, but slowly is getting over the incident.
Haynes originally was arrested on an outstanding warrant involving an attack by the same dog in July 2009. In that case, the dog bit a man on the buttocks.