Officer Shoots, Kills Pit Bull That Attacks Police Dog

After Officer Patrick Welch jumped out of his patrol car to arrest a man Thursday, his canine partner, Ringo, was attacked by the suspect’s companion--a 50-pound pit bull terrier named Kona.

But the jaw-to-jaw combat ended quickly when Welch shot and killed the pit bull.

Welch, of the Tustin police, had stopped Justo Castillo, 21, in front of his Irvine home in the 13600 block of Culver Drive after a 20-minute car chase that started when Castillo allegedly failed to stop after a traffic violation.

As Castillo was being taken into custody about 12:40 a.m., Kona charged and attacked Ringo, Tustin Police Sgt. Jerry Smith said.

Welch told family members to call back Kona, but when the pit bull failed to retreat, he shot it to death, Smith said.

The Castillos said they heard no such request.

Ringo, a German shepherd, sustained minor injuries of his eye and shoulder, Smith said.

Castillo family members said their dog was shot twice.

“I’m really upset by this,” said Edith Pueblos, Castillo’s sister and owner of the dog. “Kona was a family dog for more than five years, and we never had a problem with him.”

“Police told us they shot (Kona) because he attacked their dog, but I don’t see why they had their dog out when my brother was already in custody,” she said.

Police said it is standard procedure for police dogs to get out of the patrol car at the same time as the officer.

Pueblos said she knows the “public thinks pit bulls are vicious dogs” but that Kona was a family pet that had never attacked anyone.

“My husband is really upset,” Pueblos said. “We just don’t understand why it happened.”

Pueblos and her husband had recently moved to an apartment in Orange and left Kona at her parents’ house, where there was room for the dog to roam the yard with the family’s other dog, a Doberman Pinscher named Tuffy.

“I know Tuffy is really lonely without Kona,” Pueblos said.

The incident was the second in the county about five weeks in which a police officer shot and killed a pit bull.

In December, two Costa Mesa officers opened fire on a pit bull that charged them when they tried to serve a search warrant at a residence.