Saturday, September 23, 2000

By Robert Moran INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Two pit bulls turned on their family yesterday, authorities said, mauling a 28-year-old Wissinoming woman and her 10-year-old daughter before being shot and killed by police.

Terrica Lindsay and her daughter, Richea, were attacked about 4 p.m. in the backyard of their rowhouse in the 6000 block of Ditman Street, police said. Officers arriving at the scene found the girl inside the house and her mother in the backyard trying to fight off the animals.

Despite cries from inside the house of "Don't shoot the dogs! Don't shoot the dogs!" one of the officers fired at both dogs, neighbors said.

A witness to the attack, Jim Hockel, 66, said the woman was dragged across the yard by one of the dogs and had a bite wound in her right arm "the size of an apple."

Both victims were taken to Frankford Hospital-Torresdale Campus, where they were listed in stable condition with severe bite wounds.

Two hours later, as police continued to investigate the incident, the two dogs were still lying on the grass in the backyard. Blood was smeared on the grass and on the steps leading to the back door of the house.

Hockel said the attack lasted 10 minutes before police arrived. At one point, Hockel said, he scaled the six-foot wooden fence surrounding the backyard and banged on it with an aluminum bat to draw the dogs' attention. He took several swings at one dog but missed.

Then, Hockel said, "the mother said to the child, 'When I count to three, make a run to the back door.' " She counted, and the girl made it safely into the house.

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