Video shows how pit bulls got out of house before Halloween attack in Tarentum last year
Tarentum police arrested 34-year-old Shawn Flynn on charges including aggravated assault, criminal trespass, and recklessly endangering another person for the incident that took place about five minutes before trick-or-treating was set to begin.
Eight months later, Michael Shutack now has scars from his arms to his face and legs. They're painful memories from when pit bulls brutally mauled him on Oct. 31, 2024, leaving him out of work for two months.
"Not knowing what's going on, I walked into an ambush, and they took me down," Shutack said.
Surveillance video obtained by KDKA reveals how the dogs got loose in the neighborhood by East Seventh and Ormond Street. In the video, Flynn is seen in a hoodie, opening the door to the owners' home and running away. Seconds later, three pit bulls escape outside.
"Who knows who else would have been attacked, and in a way, I'm kind of glad it was me and not a kid," Shutack said.
That's initially how Shutack got caught in the crosshairs. He heard a noise, saw the dogs heading towards some kids and got them out of harm's way.
"I picked him up and tossed him over the fence down at the end there, and I asked him, 'What's going on?' And he was too scared to talk," Shutack said.
Before Shutack knew it, the dogs went after him. Flynn even tried to help, using a rug to distract the dogs, but got attacked himself. Another neighbor threw an old PlayStation console at the animals.
Shutack eventually learned that the dogs had injured a woman in the area.
"Whatever reason he had for doing it, there's no excuse," Shutack said.
The dogs' owners weren't home at the time, but neighbors told KDKA they were evicted right after the incident, and court records show charges against them were recently dismissed. A spokesperson with the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office told KDKA that dismissal was due to the new video evidence received by police.
The criminal complaint also said Flynn only admitted to letting the dogs out after officers showed him the video. In an interview with investigators, he told them the landlord told his friend, "he would pay money for them to let the dogs out of the house" in an effort to evict the owners.
Flynn said he never received that money.
"He has to answer, take his lumps for what he did," Shutack said.
As for Flynn, his mom told KDKA her son had never been in trouble until now. Flynn remains out of jail on non-monetary bail and will be back in court on July 30.
It's unclear whether the landlord will face any charges.
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By clicking on these shopping links, visitors will leave These e-commerce sites are operated under different terms and privacy policies than ABC will receive a commission for purchases made through these links. Prices may change from the date of publication. This month, we are also teaming up with Little Free Library to give out free copies in Times Square and at 150 locations across the U.S. and Canada. Since 2009, more than 300 million books have been shared in Little Free Libraries across the world. Click here to find a copy of ''Not Quite Dead Yet" at a Little Free Library location near you. Read along with us and join the conversation all month on our Instagram account, @GMABookClub, and with #GMABookClub. *************************** Jet walked across The Green, onto the street beyond. It was dark, but not yet late enough to worry about it. The town was still thrumming and shrieking, with departing cars and the undead. A gaggle of teenagers outside the little church, too loud and giggly for just sugar. Found Mom and Dad's liquor cabinet, she'd bet. Past the houses beyond, Jack-o'-lanterns still glowing outside, mean triangle eyes glaring back at her. Someone hadn't bothered carving theirs; just a bunch of naked pumpkins and gourds, lining the steps up to their front door. Jet turned up College Hill Road, saluting the skeleton hanging outside the Romanos' at number 1, its limbs creaking and flailing in the fall breeze. Up the hill to number 10. Home. This big obnoxious house that Dad had renovated and extended, and extended again. It stuck out against the normal houses on the street, against the Finneys' directly opposite at number 7. Jet might just hate the Masons too, you know. She jogged up the large, ringed driveway, past her truck, giving it an affectionate pat on the cargo bed. A Ford F-150 in powder-blue. Mom thought Jet had bought it just to piss her off. Mom wasn't totally wrong. Just one Jack-o'-lantern outside their red front door, but its eyes had blown out, gone dark. A bucket on the front step with a sign: Please help yourself. One candy per person. What world did her mom live in? Damn, the bucket was empty. F--kers. Jet searched her jacket pocket for her house keys, the Ring doorbell camera eyeing her, so she eyed it back, stuck out her tongue. She unlocked the front door, and Reggie was at her feet in a rush of red fur and a helicopter tail, the happy squeaks he only made for her. He jumped up and pawed her knees. "Hello, hello, handsome. Who's a good boy, huh?" Jet bent to tickle him behind the ears. Those silly, long, English cocker spaniel ears. The dog ran off, skittering around the corner and back two seconds later. "Oh, did you bring me some dirty socks?" Jet said, thumbing his muzzle, the proud wiggle of his little body at the sacred offering. "Thank you so much, my absolute favorite." Jet closed the front door and moved through the hall, crisp white walls and Moroccan rugs, too neat, too styled, like a show home, and -- man -- was Jet in trouble every time she dared to treat it like a home, dropping crumbs or leaving her boots out. Through to the kitchen at the back of the house, Reggie trotting in behind her. There was a plate of cookies on the kitchen island. Sophia had baked them, dropped them around earlier, black-iced bats and orange pumpkins. Sophia did things like that. Baked. Jet picked up a bat, bit off its head. Damn, they were actually good. She finished it off, wiping her sticky fingers on one of the dishtowels by the stove, a matching set of three: little marching lemons, and oranges and avocados, because everything had to match in this house. Jet turned and passed the cookies again. F--k it, actually; she took one of the pumpkins too, wandering through the wide, corniced archway into the living room. 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