Man charged after dog attacks Jeannette K-9

A man is facing charges after his dog attacked a K-9 while police and the FBI were serving a warrant, the Westmoreland County district attorney said. 

The district attorney's office said 63-year-old Gino Ferrari's pit bull attacked K-9 Diesel while Jeannette police were helping the FBI with a search warrant on a wanted person on Adams Avenue in July. 

While at the home, the DA's office said Ferrari told authorities the person they were looking for wasn't there, but he gave officers consent to search after he removed his dog. 

Ferrari was given permission to enter the home and secure his dog, but moments later, police said they heard the pit bull barking as it aggressively charged toward a fence in K-9 Diesel's direction. 

The dog made it over the fence and began to attack K-9 Diesel, latching onto his neck, prosecutors said. Officers tried to tase it, but that didn't work. Officers had to pepper spray the dog to get it to release K-9 Diesel.

K-9 Diesel was taken to a veterinary hospital to be treated for puncture wounds on his neck and scratch marks, the district attorney's office said. 

While at the scene, police said they learned from a witness that Ferrari's dog had tried to go after another person walking their dog and claimed it had killed a puppy.

Ferrari was charged with injuries to a police dog, recklessly endangering another person and inflicting injury to a domestic animal, the Westmoreland County District Attorney's Office said.