Boise police shoot, kill dog that attacked police dog

Boise police officers were at a home on South Annett Street early Wednesday afternoon to serve a felony warrant when a pit bull ran out of the home and attacked a police dog, which was on a leash, police said in a news release.

"The pit bull had the police K9 by the throat and the K9’s handler fired two shots, hitting the pit bull," police said, adding that the pit bull died at the scene.

One of the people at the house, Nickolas Edmonds, "ran toward the pit bull after it was shot and tripped over the Police K9. The Police K9 then bit Edmonds," police said. Edmonds was taken to a hospital for a minor injury, then arrested on a misdemeanor warrant for a drug paraphernalia charge, police said.

The person officers were initially after, Mitchell Ponting, later came out of the house and was arrested on a felony warrant for failure to appear on a drug-related charge, police said.

The police dog, a Belgian Malinois named Rosco, suffered several bite wounds and was taken to a veterinarian for treatment, police said.

Ponting, 51, remained in the Ada County Jail Tuesday evening. Edmonds was not listed as having been booked into the jail.

This story was originally published March 29, 2016 at 6:25 PM with the headline "Boise police shoot, kill dog that attacked police dog."