<Miami> Brisco, a 6-year-old Pitbull and therapy dog is being hailed as a hero after he saved a neighborhood family from 3 violent home intruders late Tuesday evening.
Brisco’s owner, 39-year-old Greg Bannerman, lives in Miami, Florida, and adopted the young Pitbull 4-years-ago after he retired from the United States Marine Corps and his doctor recommended he get a therapy dog to help assist with mild-PSTD.
Bannerman along with his fiancé Megan Howler live in a modest home within a quiet, middle-class, neighborhood primarily occupied by families with small children located on the outskirts of Miami-Dade County.
According to Bannerman, he had spent Tuesday evening where he spends most evenings, on the couch, binge watching the show ‘Friends’ with his fiancé Megan. The 39-year-old retired serviceman told reporters that they had been enjoying a relaxing evening and that nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
“We were just laying around watching Netflix and had no idea that something terrible was taking place next-door” – Bannerman told local reporters.
Bannerman and his fiancé may not have known what horrors were taking place just next door -but the couple’s dog, Brisco, did. According to Bannerman, the 6-year-old therapy dog was laying on the floor at the foot of the couch, when suddenly, his ears perked up and he bolted out of the living room and using a doggy door, ran out of the house.
Bannerman told reporters that he assumed Brisco had heard something outside, perhaps a neighborhood cat, but decided to follow the dog outside to ensure nobody was attempting to break into his shed. As Bannerman opened the sliding-glass-door leading into his backyard, he witnessed Brisco jump the chain-link fence connecting his backyard to his neighbor’s and utilize his neighbor’s doggy door to enter their home.
When the responding officers arrived at 7867 Lorient Circle, the home Barry and Connie Havens share with their 2-small children, they assumed their only job would be to coax the dog out of the house. However, after hearing several screams coming from inside the home, they broke down the front door and entered expecting to find that the Pitbull had mauled a sleeping family.
Instead, what the responding officers found -was the scene of a violent home invasion. Barry Haven along with his wife Connie and their 2-young children, 6-year-old Jenny and 9-year-old Janice had been blindfolded with duct-tape and tied to kitchen chairs.
Chief of Police, Bryan Carlton, told reporters that all 4-members of the Havens family sustained physical abuse from the 3-masked home intruders, however, the father, Barry Havens sustained the majority of the abuse and appeared to have been stabbed 6-times in the legs, arms, and torso.
According statements made to police by Barry Havens, the masked intruders were demanding money and jewelry and were becoming angry as he continued to explain that there wasn’t any money or valuable jewelry in the house. Havens told responding officers that just as the masked-intruder’s violence escalated, the family was saved by their neighbor’s dog – Brisco.
Police believe that Brisco, who has played with the Havens children several times throughout the past year, jumped into action when she heard the familiar children crying and could sense the distress within their pleas for help.
According to statements made by the Havens family, the 3- masked-intruders were completely caught off-guard when Brisco ran into the house and immediately began attacking them.
Barry Havens told police that within minutes, Brisco had taken all 3 intruders to the ground and they were frozen in place on the floor, terrified to move.
In protecting the family, Brisco bit all three intruders on the legs, arms, and necks. One of the home-intruders, who has since been identified as 42-year-old Spencer Elliot, was pronounced dead on the scene and the remaining 2-indtruders sustained serious injuries requiring medical treatment.
Among those singing praise for Brisco’s heroic actions are the members of the Havens family who have told reporters they owe their lives to Brisco and will never be able to thank him enough or fully express their gratitude for the therapy Pitbull.
Police are still investigating the home invasion, however, during a brief press-conference, told members of the media that they believe the invasion was motivated by a now-defunct business deal Barry Havens had been involved in throughout early-2017. They believe the intruders intended to harm the Havens family and are grateful for Brisco’s intervention.