York police: Woman’s attacker ran away after dog bite

A woman who told police she was attacked by a strange man in her back yard may have been rescued by the family dog.

York police were called to a home on Wainwright Avenue at 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 22. There they met with a 36-year-old woman who was crying and bleeding from the mouth.

She told officers she was in the back yard looking for a small dog that had wandered away when she was surprised from behind by an unknown man who put “something” around her neck and punched her in the side of the face, according to a police report.

Her attacker then let go and ran away, apparently after being bitten by the woman’s dog, a pregnant pitbull.

The woman told police she heard the dog was in the yard and she could hear it barking before she went outside, but didn’t see anyone in the yard until she was attacked.

Police searched the back yard but were “unable to find any clothing material or blood in the area which may have confirmed a possible dog bite,” the report states.

The suspect is believed to have run down a dirt road behind the home leading to South Brook Drive. Officers searched the area but were unable to find him. The woman was taken to Piedmont Medical Center after complaining of pain in her jaw from the attack.

This story was originally published October 4, 2015 at 3:08 PM with the headline "York police: Woman’s attacker ran away after dog bite."