BOISE - Boise police said they shot and killed a dog Tuesday that they say attacked a police K9 dog while they were trying to serve a warrant.
Police said members of the Boise Police Community Policing Team and a Police K9 unit attempted to serve a $200,000 warrant on Mitchell Ponting for failure to appear on a narcotics violation. That was at around 1 p.m. in the 1600 block of South Annett Street.
Officers knocked on the door for 20 minutes, asking for Ponting to come outside.
That's when two other people came outside, police said.
One of them was armed with a handgun and was detained.
Then police said an approximately 70-pound pit bull ran outside and immediately attacked a leashed police K9. Police said they pushed the pit bull away, but it circled around and attacked the K9 dog again.
The pit bull, police said, posed an imminent danger to officers, the K9 and citizens at the scene.
Police said the pit bull had the K9 dog by the throat, and the dog's handler fired two shots, hitting the pit bull. The pit bull died at the scene.
Police said a man named Nickolas Edmonds ran toward the pit bull after it was shot and tripped over the K9 dog. Edmonds was treated for a minor injury at a hospital and was later arrested on a misdemeanor warrant.
Ponting eventually came out of the home and was arrested.
The police K9 - Rosco - was bitten three times and was taken to a veterinarian for care.