Mahoning County deputy dog warden Dave Nelson says he thought he may be killed when he was stabbed while on a call in Youngstown on Tuesday afternoon. 

Nelson was stabbed around 3:20 p.m. in the area of West Myrtle Avenue and Oak Hill while responding to a call with Animal Charity regarding someone allegedly dragging a dog by a chain. 

Squire Glenn, Jr, was charged with felonious assault in the incident. Glenn appeared in Youngstown municipal court on Wednesday afternoon, where bond was set at $25,000 and he was ordered to have no contact with Nelson. 

 

Squire Glenn
Squire Glenn  

Nelson said he asked Glenn if his dog needed water and when Glenn said no, Nelson told him there had been complaints and that he couldn't drag the dog. That's when he says the situation turned potentially deadly. 

Speaking to 21 News, Nelson said he believed Glenn intended to kill him. 

"I reached up and touched my neck and I said 'oh, man, he cut my jugular.' Because he said 'I'm killing you. I'm killing you. He meant to kill me," Nelson said. 

Nelson said he went into what he calls "defense mode," thinking of ways to stop the attack, even thinking about whether he was in a position to back a vehicle over him or use a pen to fight the attacker off. 

Nelson said he approached Glenn once he heard radio traffic that indicated Youngstown police were on their way and he believed it was safe to approach him, since he knew him from previous encounters. Nelson said he actually once saved Glenn from a dog attack more than a year ago. 

"I was able to get the dog off of him and he was able to get medical treatment so this dog wouldn't kill him. I helped him in that situation," Nelson said. 

Nelson said he is following up with his doctors, but said he's happy to be ok after all of his years on the job. 

"I thought for sure this was the end. That's how scared I was," Nelson said. "He was wholeheartedly trying to kill me," he said. 

Nelson said he was up most of the night thinking about how close he came to greater harm. 

"When I started passing out from the loss of blood, I thought, man, this is it, I'm dying here on Myrtle and Oak Hill," Nelson said. 

Nelson said in the nick of time, police showed up and arrested Glenn.

Meanwhile, the county recently approved body cameras for Dog Warden agents who say danger resulting in calls to remove dogs has increased immensely this past year.

Animal Charity of Ohio said there's a correlation between calls to remove dogs and the violence uptick in the city making matters worse.

Board President Mary Louk said agents remove dogs from not only animal abusers but murderers and drug dealers who use dogs as their guard.

"We see the same names popping up over and over again... the same addresses," Louk said, "We remove dogs, they go to jail, they get out of jail, they get more dogs. it's a constant circular problem."

The Mahoning County Dog Warden expects body cameras will be up and running within about two months.