WINNSBORO – A Winnsboro man was mauled Saturday by two dogs who were reportedly running loose on the former Mack Truck property off U. S. Highway 321 about 7 a.m. on Friday.
A dispatcher notified Sheriff’s deputies that a man was on the ground with two dogs on top of him and another man was also on the ground.
When deputies arrived, one man was trying to control a Rottweiler while another Rottweiler was being restrained on a leash by a third person in a car.
John Emory Dinkins, Jr., 45, was lying on the ground with what deputies described as puncture wounds and deep bite marks where the skin was missing from his head, neck, back, both arms and both legs.
EMS arrived and transported Dinkins to Palmetto Richland.
Before he was transported, Dinkins reportedly told officers that he was walking in the north bound lane on U.S. Highway 321, going north, then crossed over to the south bound lane where some friends were to pick him up.
Dinkins said that when he got almost in front of the Mack Truck building, he saw two dogs running towards him.
He said someone was calling for the dogs to stop, but they kept coming and attacked him just south of the entrance to the plant, on the shoulder of the road. Dinkins said the dogs took him to the ground and began biting him. He said he tried to fight them off, but couldn’t, the report stated.
Deputies on scene called the Fairfield County Animal Control who took the dogs to the county’s animal shelter.
The dogs’ owner, Kenneth Floyd Anderson, 44, reported that he had brought the dogs to the property to exercise them. Anderson told deputies a different version, that Dinkins had approached him, causing the dogs to attack Dinkins, according to the report.
As Anderson was trying to pull the dogs off and Dinkins was trying to fight them off, a passer-by came to their rescue and helped restrain the dogs, the report stated.
The following day, deputies arrested Anderson and charged him with Allowing Dogs to Run At Large.
Anderson was released on a $158.75 personal recognizance bond.
As an investigative news reporter, this was an unfortunate incident that could have been avoided altogether. In my findings, this article didn’t gather and publish factual and thorough information: Mr. Dinkins was listed as a resident of Columbia, SC per Winnsboro Police and during his side of the story he failed to mention he was attempting robbery and assault against Mr. Anderson with a sharp object that left hematomas and bruises all over his body when this incident occurred at 6:30AM in a desolate area which also landed Mr. Anderson in the ER. In addition, during this altercation, Mr. Dinkins was heavily inebriated when he approached Mr. Anderson while he exercised his dogs during their early morning run, and after Mr. Anderson informed him he had no funds on him, Mr. Dinkins jumped him where they landed on the ground, and while Mr. Anderson was trying to ward Mr. Dinkins off of him in self-defense, the dogs reacted to his aid in self-defense, apparently by seeing their owner on the ground fighting for his life. The Winnsboro Police stated they’ve seen Mr. Anderson on numerous occasions walking his dogs on the Mack Truck location grounds and the dogs were obedient. Mr. Anderson was not arrested, yet walked into the station on his own merit due to the dogs coming loose from their leash as the two men tussled on the ground, it was treated as the dogs were running free when the police arrived on the scene. In addition, Winnsboro Police will have to investigate why Mr. Dinkins was inebriated in that location at that particular time of the morning where a vacant building is located. This info is filed in an actual police report and documented with the Winnsboro Police Department. #