Dad, Friend Accused Of Commanding Pit Bull To Attack Son

September 7, 2012 at 10:35 am by Morbid  

Milwaukee, WI –  Two men in Wisconsin are facing charges after being accused of using a pit bull to attack one of the men’s teenage son.

According to reports, the attack happened while 43-year-old Joel E. Kennedy and his 18-year-old son, Joel Kennedy Jr., visited 58-year-old Richard R. Lisko’s home over the Labor Day weekend. At some point, Lisko suspected the teen had stolen some of his morphine and gold coins so in response, Lisko commanded his pit bull, Bubba, to attack the teen.

When the teen would not ‘fess up to the theft, Lisko and Kennedy suspended the boy from his ankles from a back porch rafter. Then, according to the criminal complaint, Lisko again commanded Bubba to attack the teen as he remained suspended upside down for about an hour.

The teen said the only reason why the attack stopped was because Lisko had called a friend over to the home and that man, 56-year-old Harry Haack, ordered them to stop what they were doing and to untie the teen.

Haack told AP that Lisko called him Friday night and told him to come over. Haack said he knew something was wrong when he pulled into Lisko’s driveway and noticed few lights were on in the house. He said when he entered the home, he saw what appeared to be laundry hanging from a clothesline on the porch.

“I looked closely, and here I found this young kid hanging upside-down,” Haack said. “I had to yell at them guys twice to take him down.”

Investigators say the teen suffered cuts and punctures to his neck, ears and scalp consistent with a dog attack, and that he also had rope burns around his feet and ankles.

Lisko was charged with false imprisonment, injury by negligent use of a dangerous weapon and substantial battery. Kennedy was charged with being party to a crime of the same felonies, and also with failing to help his son.

Kennedy would tell investigators that he did not help his son because he was scared to death of Lisko, who he suspected was a member of the Outlaw biker gang (Lisko’s attorney says he is not), and that it would teach his son a valuable life lesson. As for the teen, he says he admitted to stealing the items, but only out of duress.

I don’t know if if he stole the items or not, but I do know that I would admit to just about anything, aside from liking Nickleback, if I were hung upside down while a pit bull chewed on my head.

Haack defended Bubba, who he says is one of the friendliest dogs he knows. ”The only way that dog does anything is by command,” said Haack. “He’s so laid-back otherwise.”

The victim echoed similar statements, saying that he’d never had a problem with Bubba and that when he first arrived at Lisko’s home, Bubba was friendly and licking his face. He said the dog only attacked on Lisko’s command.

Lisko’s attorney says neither man commanded the dog to attack the teen, but that Bubba was just reacting to the teen having shocked him with a stun gun and beating him with a pipe the week before.

However, this isn’t the first time Lisko has been in trouble with the law regarding Bubba attacking someone. He has a jury trial scheduled for December, over child abuse charges he received after he was accused of repeatedly punching a boy who tried to stop Bubba from attacking the boy’s mother.

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