[Hammock Parties]

'I figured I was dead.' Ohio man survives attack by friend's pit bull

https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/...s/75262295007/

Michael Palmer is a broken man.

He lives in fear, crashes on friends’ couches and feels uncomfortable when strangers stare at him.

This is all new to Palmer, now 51.

In December 2022, Palmer was viciously attacked by a friend's pit bull at her Green home. Piper, the dog, bit off his ears, thumbs, an index finger and part of his nose.

Palmer can no longer work as a machinist, play guitar or pick up small items.

“I don’t like to go in public,” Palmer said in an interview at his attorneys’ office in Akron. “I go to stores and people stare. Some of them ask. I’d rather them ask than just stare and walk away.”

Palmer, who is living in Lakemore, said he mostly goes out at night when his injuries aren’t as noticeable.

More: Pit bulls took her leg but not the life she loves
After spending nearly three months in hospitals and going through seven surgeries, Palmer faces half a dozen more operations, along with constant PTSD and nightmares.

Keys or coins rattling together sound like a dog chain to Palmer, sending him into a panic.

“It puts the fear of a dog in my mind,” he said. “I see shadows of dogs all the time. I hear a dog bark and it’s pretty tough.”

More: Animal control gone astray: Akron seeing too many loose dogs, not enough shelter space
Palmer was attacked by his neighbor Wendy Trippett’s pit bull when he went to her house in the early morning hours of Dec. 20, 2022. He said she invited him in and, when he started to open the door, the dog pounced.

The attack lasted nearly 15 minutes. The dog dragged Palmer onto the snow-covered ground and bit off chunks of his flesh and body parts while wagging its tail. The assault ended when a Summit County sheriff’s deputy shot and killed the dog.

Palmer doesn’t recall much after the dog first bit one of his hands until he woke up in the hospital days later.

“I figured I was dead,” he said.

The dog bit off a large area on the side of Palmer’s face, both ears, a thumb and forefinger on his right hand, and a thumb on his left hand. He also had bites to one of his arms and one of his legs.

Deputies were able to recover one of Palmer’s thumbs, but doctors couldn’t reattach it. Deputies determined the dog ate the other body parts.

Asked if anything can be learned from his attack, Palmer said: “Any dog can attack. You never know.”

Palmer’s attorneys said his attack could − and should – have been prevented. They believe the case illustrates the gaps in Ohio's dangerous dog laws and their enforcement.

The attorneys are suing Kenneth Grable, who was the landlord of both Palmer and Trippett.

The attorneys claim Grable was aware of the dog’s prior attacks on two other people but did nothing about it, despite requests by his tenants.

Grable, though, argues he isn't to blame for the attack. He said he understands Palmer tried to enter Trippett's house uninvited and the dog attacked him.

"I thought it was a pretty good dog," Grable said. "It was protecting its mom. That's what dogs do."

A jury trial was scheduled for this week in Summit County Common Pleas Court but was delayed. The trial will determine if Grable is liable and, if so, how much he owes Palmer in damages. Palmer’s medical bills so far are nearly $650,000, his attorneys say.

Rick Zurz, one of Palmer’s attorneys with Slater & Zurz, said Palmer suffered physical and psychological injuries that he'll have for the rest of his life.

“It’s really about having to live in the aftermath of that,” Zurz said. “It’s horrific.”

Pit bull attacked two other neighbors
Three months before Palmer’s attack, the same pit bull tried to attack the neighbor who would later see Palmer’s mauling.

Christine Witte, who lived next to Trippett on Warren Drive in Green, called 911 on Sept. 4, 2022, to report that her neighbor’s dog tried to attack her in her driveway while she was taking out the trash.

“I came around the corner and she came charging at me,” Witte said in an interview, referring to the pit bull that was female. “She was running around, trying to attack me. I put the trash can between me and her, ran back in the house, slammed the door and called 911.”

Witte, 59, said she wasn’t bit but was frightened.

Trippett wasn’t home at the time. Deputies gave her a warning for control of her dog and told her she “needs to watch the dog better and to fix the fence where it got out of the yard,” according to a report from the Summit County Sheriff's Office, which provides police services in Green.

Witte said she called Summit County Animal Control but was told there was nothing the agency could do.

Animal control mainly responds to complaints of stray dogs in townships, with cities handling their own dog complaints, said Greta Johnson, the assistant chief of staff and director of communications for the Summit County executive.


Shortly after the September incident, Witte said she saw the pit bull break free from its chain and try to attack a neighbor's friend. The man climbed a tree to escape. After the man came down, the dog charged at him again and he again scrambled up the tree.

Grable, the landlord, witnessed the near attack, Witte said. He remarked that the dog was very strong.

This incident wasn't reported to the sheriff's office.

Witte said both she and another neighbor complained to Grable about the dog. She said he did nothing, though, and allowed the dog to remain.

Witte said she was so scared of the pit bull that she didn’t have a birthday party in her yard out of fear that someone would be attacked. She thinks more should have been done to protect her and her neighbors.

“There were a lot of missteps,” said Witte, who now lives in Akron. “I was trying to get the dog out of there.”

Grable said he told Trippett that she needed to do something about her pit bull.

"I told her, 'Get rid of it or get insurance for it,'" Grable said. "She never did anything about it. I never forced it."


Palmer blacks out during attack that lasts nearly 15 minutes
Palmer, who isn’t married and has two kids, moved into a house on Warren Drive at the beginning of the summer of 2021.

Palmer said he went to Trippett's house about 4 a.m. December 20, 2022, when she asked to borrow $20. He said he was wary about her pit bull but she had always put the 100-pound dog in a back bedroom when he’d visited before.

Here's what happened next, according to Palmer, witness reports and police body-worn camera footage:

Palmer knocked and Trippett told him to come in.

When Palmer opened the door, the pit bull pounced, dragging him into the yard. Trippett tried to get her dog to stop by hitting it with a broom. This didn’t help.

The dog grabbed Palmer's pant leg as he tried to spin around and hit it. It grabbed his pant leg again and he hit it on top of its nose.

Palmer fell to the ground and tried to bear hug the dog. It pulled him to the ground several times while he yelled at Trippett to get her “f------ dog!”

Witte heard the commotion and asked Palmer if he needed help. He asked her to call 911.

Witte thought about hitting the dog with a shovel but was afraid it would turn on her. She went inside and called 911, screaming, “Please come!” to the dispatcher.

Palmer tried to climb in a pickup truck in the driveway, but the dog pulled him back down.

Palmer blacked out when the dog bit him on the right hand and was then in and out of consciousness.

“I don’t remember it biting off my finger, biting off my ears,” he said. “It’s not like I looked down and said, ‘My fingers are gone.’”

When Deputy Nick DiSabato arrived, the dog was still mauling Palmer.

“Get the dog off this guy!” Witte shouted.

DiSabato shot the dog and it yelped, then ran around the front of the house. The deputy shot the dog twice more.

“Dog’s down!” DiSabato said into his radio, then added that Palmer needed an ambulance for dog bites all over his body.

Deputies attempted to provide Palmer with first aid until paramedics arrived.

“We’re here, alright?” a deputy said to Palmer, whose body was surrounded by blood in the snow.

The deputy urged Palmer to stay still.

“Please, please, please!” Palmer pleaded. “Oh my God, please!”

Paramedics arrived, put Palmer on a gurney and headed to Summa Akron City Hospital.