July 8, 2009 - Teen Girl Charged in Pit Bull Attack

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A Seattle-area teenager has been charged with assault for allegedly encouraging a pit bull to attack two women.

Investigators said the 16-year-old girl, whose name has not been released because of her age, had trained the dog to lunge at people, The Seattle Times reported. The two women told police they both tried to intervene June 21 when they saw the girl and three younger boys kicking the dog.

The teenager, a Burien resident, has also been charged with illegal possession of alcohol – two bottles of malt liquor sheriff's deputies said were found in her backpack.

Don Donohoe, a spokesman for King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg, said the boys, all White Center residents who are between 11 and 13, face no charges. But he said the prosecutor plans to ask for an "exemplary" sentence for the girl if she is convicted because of the seriousness of the attack on the two women.

She could be sentenced to 30 days in jail and 150 hours of community service on each of two counts of third-degree assault and the alcohol possession charge.