The domestic dog has proven an ideal work companion for millennia, offering assistance in everything from herding sheep and pulling sleds to detecting improvised bombs.
A Spring Branch man exploited that ancient animal relationship on Friday morning in a despicable attempt with a pit bull to rob a woman and her special needs child.
The suspect tried to follow the mother and child onto the bus . . . with the pit bull.
Officials with the Spring Branch ISD police tell KHOU Channel 11 that Husamidden Muhammad approached his targets at a school bus stop on Hammerly Road near Bingle, just steps from Cedar Brook Elementary.
The suspect attempted to snatch the student’s backpack and the mother’s purse, but was foiled when the bus arrived and his potential victims ran inside the vehicle.
Muhammad refused to give up and tried to follow the mother and child onto the school bus — with the pit bull — before the driver slammed the door and held it closed. All students made it to school safely, while the suspect was arrested and charged with felony theft.
The "dog as weapon" robbery has been no stranger to headlines in recent years, with notable incidents in Massachusetts, Indiana and Oregon. New York City cops saw a rash of dog-related muggings throughout Jamaica, Queens, in 2012.
A Spring Branch man allegedly used a pit bull in a failed robbery attempt Friday.
