A Frankfort mail carrier was badly injured Thursday morning after a pit bull attacked him in a neighborhood off Holmes Street.
Chris Lombardi was transported from the home at 214 Swigert Ave. to the hospital with deep wounds to his arms and legs. He is in stable condition at Frankfort Regional Medical Center.
Frankfort Postmaster John Dampier arrived on the scene and told The State Journal it was one of the worst dog bites he’d seen in his 22-year career with the postal service.
Chris Moore and Greg Vaught were doing construction work nearby when they heard Lombardi scream. They said they rushed to his side, and Moore called 911.
“I had my top lip torn off by a pit when I was young – I’m not much scared of them,” Moore said.
Vaught said he applied pressure to the wound on Lombardi’s arm until the ambulance arrived a few minutes later.
“The (left) arm was an arterial laceration, and it was really deep to the bone,” Vaught said.
“He had multiple (wounds) on both arms and his legs.”
As emergency crews loaded Lombardi into the ambulance, Animal Control officers struggled to capture the dog. They eventually led him to their truck in a leash and muzzle.
Dampier said the Postal Service and police would conduct their own investigations of the incident. He said the last time a dog bit a Frankfort carrier was three months ago, when it happened twice in the same day in the same neighborhood off Holmes Street.
Mail carriers keep mace in their bags for dog attacks, but Lombardi’s supervisor said that didn’t help in this case.
“We don’t know all the details yet, but from what it sounds like, the dog got him as he was coming out of the gate,” said J.B. Smith, a supervisor with the post office.
“He didn’t have a chance.”
Lombardi has worked for the Frankfort post office for about two years, Dampier said. He was previously a carrier in Florida.
It was unclear by press time if the dog’s owner would face charges.
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