HILDALE — A Hildale man was arrested Saturday morning on counts of aggravated assault and drug paraphernalia after he sicced his dog on deputies at Maxwell Park, police say.
Colorado City Marshal Chief Rob Radley told St. George News the incident began when an off-duty deputy was at Maxwell Park and says he overheard 21-year-old Aryan Young demanding to take someone’s car.
“He wanted to take their car, and they were saying, ‘no,’ and that’s what got him to start to intervene,” he said.
The deputy put in a call for backup. Radley said they received a report of a dog being off-leash at Maxwell Park and a man, the dog’s owner, later identified as Young, showing erratic behavior. The dog was a German Shepherd Mastiff mix.
Washington County Sheriff’s Office also responded to the scene to assist.
While the deputy was putting in a call to another deputy, Young started to make an attempt to leave the scene. Refusing to stop, Young then started giving orders to his dog to protect him.
In a statement written by the other deputy involved, he said he was in route at 9:22 a.m. to respond to a suspicious individual at Maxwell Park.
“Shortly after I arrived on scene, Mr. Young started beating on his chest and yelling to his dog, ‘Protect me,'” he wrote. “The dog then attacked me, biting me on the leg and drawing blood. I then, for my safety, shot the animal.”
Radley said both deputies were bitten.
“He basically gives him the order to bite the officers,” Radley said. “So both deputies were bit on the legs by this dog. When the dog was attacking, the one deputy, he took his service weapon out and fired one round, striking the dog. The dog did not survive that round.”
The dog had already attacked one deputy when they were trying to get it on a leash, he said. He added that they did try other tactics to intervene with the dog, such as asking Young to put the dog on a leash, which were unsuccessful.
“They tried some other ways to try to intervene with the dog so they wouldn’t have to (take the) actions that they did, but, in the end, sometimes that’s the only action they can take.”
Both deputies had to receive medical treatment for their injuries.
Radley said syringes were allegedly found on Young that tested positive for methamphetamine.
Young was arrested and transported to Washington County Purgatory Correctional Facility where he was booked on two felony counts of aggravated assault, drug paraphernalia, intoxication and failing to stop at the command of an officer.
In his statement, the deputy also added conditional reasons for why he believed Young should be kept in detention. One of them was that Young was charged with felonies while currently on probation or parole. And the other reason was that Young poses a threat to the public and/or is a flight risk.
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