Teen charged in pit bull attacks ordered held after pleading not guilty

A 16-year-old girl accused of siccing her pit bull on two women in SeaTac last month pleaded not guilty this morning to several criminal charges.

The teen, who is not being named because she is being charged in King County Juvenile Court, fidgeted in her chair during the brief court hearing. The girl's mother declined to speak when Superior Court Judge Pro Tem Charles Johnson asked her if she had anything to say to on behalf of her daughter.

Johnson ordered the girl to remain behind bars until her trial. Defense attorney Martha Walton had requested that the teen be sent home, but remain on electronic home monitoring.

The girl was charged Friday with two counts of third-degree assault and one count of being a minor in possession of alcohol. A warrant was issued for her arrest that day, but she wasn't booked into jail until Tuesday after her mother called sheriff's deputies to say that the girl was at home, prosecutors said.

While each of the three charges can result in a 30-day jail sentence, Dan Donohoe, spokesman for Prosecutor Dan Satterberg, said that his office plans to ask for an exceptional sentence if the girl is convicted.

Johnson said his decision to keep the girl at the King County Youth Service Center stemmed not only from the dog-attack charges, but because the girl had been recently arrested for investigation of theft.

Deputy Prosecutor Jason Simmons called the girl a "significant threat to the community." He said that the teen "savagely beat" two women and, instead of showing remorse, laughed throughout the attacks.

Walton, the defense attorney, called Simmons' allegations inflammatory, but said she couldn't refute what he was saying during this morning's arraignment. Walton said the girl's mother described the teen as obedient to her rules.

Neither women injured in the June 21 attacks appeared in court.

One of the women, 63, told authorities that she saw the girl and three boys kicking the dog in the 13300 block of Des Moines Memorial Drive South, according to charging papers. When she stopped her car and asked if they were OK, the girl, who was 15 at the time, cursed her and told her to butt out, the papers say.

When the woman threatened to call police, the girl leaned into the car, yanked the woman's hair, grabbed her cellphone and beat her with it, according to the charging papers.

The assault continued as the woman tried to escape through the car's passenger door, charging papers said. The dog then bit the woman on the thigh and hand.

The second victim, a 41-year-old woman, confronted the youths as they walked away after the first attack, according to charging papers. That woman said the girl punched her in the face and head, knocking her down, charging papers allege. She said the pit bull bit her on both arms, court papers said.

The second woman was taken to Harborview Medical Center, where she required at least two surgeries, charging papers say.

When deputies arrived at the scene the four youths refused to give their names. Deputies found two unopened bottles of fortified malt liquor in the girl's backpack.

The girl told deputies that she had trained her dog, name Snaps, to attack burglars. The dog is in the custody of King County Animal Care and Control.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com