Hartlepool: Dog destroyed by armed police following attack
- Published
Officers had to use a Taser on the dog to free the man
Armed police destroyed a "dangerously out of control" dog after it attacked a man and ran towards a town centre.
Cleveland Police arrested a 32-year-old man at an address on Thornton Street, Hartlepool, when a dog inside the property attacked him.
Officers used a Taser on the animal, described as an "American XL pitbull" after fighting to release the man.
The dog then ran past officers in an "agitated state" and was destroyed by the Armed Response Unit.
Police attended the address just before midnight on 23 May following reports of a concern for safety and arrested the man on suspicion of assault and criminal damage.
The dog, which police said "posed a serous risk to the public", was destroyed after numerous failed attempts to catch it.
Police said the man was taken to the University Hospital of North Tees with "serious injuries to his limbs and deep bite marks".
Cleveland Police said it had voluntarily referred the incident to the IOPC.
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