Palatine dog attack victims sue owner, village after 3rd attack in Elmwood Park

PALATINE, Ill. (WLS) -- A series of suburban dog attacks are now at the center of a lawsuit.

"We are here to call out Palatine, to call out the dog owners," said attorney Brian Salvi of Salvi Law.

The Salvi law firm said three of their clients have been attacked by the same two dogs. The first two happened in May in Palatine.

Amanda Ingram was walking her dog in the 200-block of West Washington when he was bitten several times and her dog was killed.

"My attack was seven minutes," she recalled. "I was dragged along the concrete and my dog was torn to shreds."

Moments later, Chase Braun and his dog were also attacked. Braun was bitten so badly, he had to have emergency surgery.

Palatine police said the dogs responsible for the attack were a pit bull mix and an Akita mix, both owned by Meleina Toedoro, 22. She was cited for more than a dozen ordinance violations.

According to the lawsuit, Teodoro entered a plea deal with the Village of Palatine that allowed her to keep the dogs, sparing them euthanization, if she moved out of the village.

Then, two months later, the dogs attacked again, this time in Elmwood Park. Steve Heinz said his wife was badly hurt, and their dog is still recovering.

"It is amazing that this has not been taken care of since the first day it happened," he said.

"To know that this happened again and that someone else had to go through it, it brings everything back," Ingram said.

"They were punting the problem to another municipality where they did not have to deal with it anymore," said attorney Michael Schostok, Salvi Law.

Palatine officials responded to the complaint saying the village sought the most stringent outcome supported by law and local ordinances. Police filed criminal charges, which are still pending.

"Let Elmwood Park, animal control, the state's attorney know not to repeat this same mistake that Palatine made," Schostok said.

ABC7 Eyewitness News went to Teodoro's home in Elmwood Park. She was not there, but someone at the house confirmed that both dogs are living there.