ST PAUL, Minn. — A St. Paul man is charged with four misdemeanor counts after his dogs attacked and injured a child as she got off her school bus Feb. 8.
The criminal complaint filed against 37-year-old Marco Antonio Mendoza Landaverde details the charges, which include failure to restrain an animal and failing to vaccinate an animal against rabies.
Prosecutors say St. Paul police were dispatched to the 600 block of Van Buren Ave. shortly before 4:45 p.m. that day on reports of a dog bite. Responding officers found 7-year-old Sumaya Farah Ali with lacerations to her face and ear. The victim's parents told police that she was walking home after getting off the bus when five dogs ran up, knocked her to the ground and began biting her. Her father told officers the animals looked like the ones owned by his neighbor.
One neighbor provided investigators with surveillance video from a Ring doorbell camera that captured the incident, and another witness said the dogs belonged to the resident at 605 Blair Avenue, soon identified as Landaverde.
Officers took control of the five dogs on Feb. 9. They say Landaverde told them he let the dogs out the day before, not knowing that the gate was open. He was only able to provide proof of rabies vaccinations for two of the five animals, and did not have licenses or a permit that allowed him to own more than three dogs at a time.
All five dogs were eventually declared dangerous and were euthanized by St. Paul Animal Control.
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