A man golfing at a Portland, Oregon course says he was forced to take matters into his own hands when a group of teen punks threatened to shoot his dog.
Vancouver resident Charles James and his dog Bishop were at the Heron Lakes Golf Course when he noticed four teens vandalizing a green on the hole he was approaching. He turned his golf cart in their direction and was going to ask them to stop when one of them pulled a gun.
“The guy lowered the rifle, and I thought he was lowering it at him,” James said, pointing to Bishop. He said all bets were off when they threatened his pet, and that instinct kicked in when he floored the pedal in his golf cart and ran over all four of the troublemakers. One of them was injured.
“I stepped on this (the accelerator) and ran right into him, and he came through the window and the rifle went that way,” he said.
One of the teens pulled a knife. “When he started at me, Bishop grabbed his leg, and when he did, I back knuckled him in the face,” James said.
James grabbed the rifle and the four teens bolted, one of them limping behind.
Bishop is trained to assist James during medical episodes. James said he was surprised that his normally mild mannered dog protected him from an attacker. “In fact, I never thought he’d be aggressive,” James said. “I mean, he runs from cats.”
James said there was no way he was going to let the juvenile delinquents hurt his loyal companion. “If they were lowering it on me, I would have turned around and left, but he was gonna pop my dog,” he said.
The suspects are described as young Hispanic males, one wearing a brown and white shirt, one wearing a black shirt and black pants. All suspects were wearing long pants and were seen running on a nearby bike path, according to police.
Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to call the Portland Police Bureau at (503) 823-0000.
