A woman told police that a dog threw her around like a rag doll, and the owner did nothing to stop it.
Both of her arms were broken, her left arm in two places.
Jeffrey C. Preuss, 42, Iola, is charged with second-degree reckless endangerment and causing injury by negligent use of a weapon.
At 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 7, Iola Police Officer Curt Field was dispatched to 210 W. Iola St. in response to a reported dog bite.
When he arrived, Field found a 59-year-old woman in a car. He saw a lot of blood on the snow outside the car and on the woman.
She said she was in a great deal of pain and could not feel her left hand.
An ambulance arrived and transported the woman to St. Michael’s Hospital in Stevens Point. She was later taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Marshfield for emergency surgery on her left arm.
Two days later, Field met with the woman at the Marshfield hospital.
She said she had gone to Preuss’ home to celebrate the holidays. She later went out to her car and when she returned, she let the dog, Rex, into the house.
The woman was petting Rex when he suddenly began growling at her, then biting her. She told Field that she asked Preuss for help, but he walked out of the room.
She estimated the attack lasted at least 15 minutes.
“All the time she was yelling at the top of her lungs for the defendant to help her and he never appeared,” according to the criminal complaint.
Field interviewed Preuss the night of the incident. The officer reported that Preuss appeared to be highly intoxicated.
Preuss denied seeing the dog attack the woman and said he believed she was drunk and probably fell off the front steps, the complaint says.
On Jan. 9, Field spoke with Preuss again. This time, Preuss reportedly said that after the woman left his house, he looked out the window, saw her on the ground and her left arm in Rex’s mouth.
Preuss said he helped the woman to her car, then went back inside the house, locked the door and laid down on the couch because he did not want to deal with her and the situation any more, the complaint says.
Rex is a redbone hound mix. There are reports of two prior dog biting incidents involving Rex and Preuss’ daughter in 2014 and 2015.
Court records indicate the woman’s medical treatment cost nearly $170,000.