Super Puppy

Yellow Lab saves jogger from attack

By ANDRIA SIMMONS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/23/07

Gwinnett police are investigating an attempted sexual assault on a female jogger at Tribble Mill Park in Lawrenceville.

A 38-year-old woman said she was jogging during the late afternoon on Oct. 12 when a young man walking in the opposite direction passed her. The man then turned around and shoved her against a tree, where he groped her and tried to put a hand up her shirt, the woman told police.

Then the woman's 120-pound yellow Labrador retriever, Jack, intervened. He chomped down on the attacker's thigh, prompting the man to run away in the direction of the playground, a police report says.

Police say there have been no similar reports in area parks recently. They have no leads on a suspect, said Cpl. Illana Spellman, spokeswoman for the Gwinnett County Police Department.

In the meantime, Spellman advised "if you're going to be jogging at dusk or later, make sure you're with someone, be aware of your surroundings and make sure you have a cellphone with you at all times."

She also warned joggers to avoid isolated areas and change their patterns regarding jogging routes and the time of day they exercise to avoid becoming a target.

A police report describes the suspect as a dark-skinned black male in his late teens wearing a white T-shirt, dark baggy pants and a Dallas Cowboys baseball cap with white stitched lettering.