Everyday Hero: Neighbor saves young girl during dog attack in Eagle Mountain
Chris Gricius poses for a portrait Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019, near his home in Eagle Mountain. On Wednesday, September 11, 2019, he and another neighbor helped chase away two dogs as they attacked a nine-year-old girl on a bicycle along the walkway pictured. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
Chris Gricius poses for a portrait Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019, near his home in Eagle Mountain. On Wednesday, September 11, 2019, he and another neighbor helped chase away two dogs as they attacked a nine-year-old girl on a bicycle. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
Chris Gricius poses for a portrait Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019, near his home in Eagle Mountain. On Wednesday, September 11, 2019, he and another neighbor helped chase away two dogs as they attacked a nine-year-old girl on a bicycle along the walkway pictured. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
An Eagle Mountain 9-year-old was attacked by dogs on Sept. 11, 2019.
An Eagle Mountain 9-year-old was attacked by dogs on Sept. 11, 2019.
Many people go about doing good deeds in their families, neighborhoods, organizations and church congregations. “Utah Valley’s Everyday Heroes” celebrates these unsung community members and brings to light their quiet contributions.
It was a peaceful Wednesday afternoon when Chris Gricius heard blood-curdling screams coming from down the street near his home in Eagle Mountain.
He had been repairing an engine in his garage and had just removed his hearing protection in time to hear a child screaming somewhere outside. Without hesitating, he sprinted toward the sound and found two large dogs attacking a little girl lying in the grass close to the road.
“I recognized instantly what was going on. It made me so angry. My adrenaline was just through the roof,” Gricius said with a self-conscious laugh. “I pretty much booked it down the street, ran as fast as I could and chased the dogs off.”
The 9-year-old girl, whose parents requested that she not be named, had been riding her bike along an asphalt path on Sept. 11 when a mastiff and a wire terrier confronted her near the intersection of Dugway Drive and Horizon Drive.
Security footage from a nearby home shows the girl stopped her bike as the dogs circled her. A few seconds later, one of the dogs lunged and pulled her off her bike and into the grass.
Although the video lacks sound, the commotion drew the attention of a passing jogger who watched the incident without stopping. Within a minute of the attack, Gricius is seen sprinting wildly down the street and scaring the dogs away.
“My biggest fear was that she had been screaming for a long time and I hadn’t heard her because I had my headset on,” he said.
As Gricius and another neighbor checked to see how badly the girl was injured, the dogs started chasing another girl riding her bicycle past the street. Gricius yanked a flag from a front yard and raced along the street to frighten the dogs away again.
“Talk about blind rage. It was so bad. I couldn’t get there fast enough,” he said.
He didn’t recognize the 9-year-old girl who had been attacked, so after calming her down, he was able to learn her last name and find a neighbor who called the girl’s mother.
Although the girl was wearing a helmet and jacket, she still had multiple bruises and deep lacerations on her back, sides and head, according to her mother, Rachel Clarke.
Her daughter had wanted to visit a friend after school so Clarke gave her permission to ride her bike around the corner. A few minutes later, Clarke received a phone call from a neighbor telling her about the dog attack.
“We were lucky in the fact that it wasn’t much worse,” she said. “If she didn’t have her helmet on, it would’ve been a lot worse.”
Paramedics determined the girl had several bite marks and scratches but no life-threatening injuries. Clarke has another hospital visit scheduled to make sure one deep injury on her daughter’s shoulder is healing properly.
She credits Gricius for saving her daughter from the attack that happened the day after the girl’s birthday.
“It’s a heroic act, and I hope he never downplays it. I hope nobody else ever downplays it because he saved her,” Clarke said. “There’s no way to know how much worse it could’ve been.”
Stephanie Gricius said her husband’s actions didn’t surprise her because “that’s just who he is.”
A few years ago, she said he punched an aggressive dog in the head after the animal was threatening him. He also was one of the first people on the scene of a fatal vehicle crash in the area a few weeks earlier.
“Chris has never been one to not do something when something needs to be done,” she said. “One of my good friends said, ‘Well, if I had to choose someone to save my kid from a dog, it would be Chris.'”
The Utah County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene and impounded the two dogs. The owners were cited for allowing the dogs to roam at large and for allowing an attack by the dogs.
Gricius said he watched the surveillance video from earlier in the day and saw the dogs chasing at least three other kids on bikes before the 9-year-old girl rode by.
“My own kids had to walk by there to get to one of the parks in the area and they were afraid of them,” he said, adding that the dogs had also reportedly killed local ducks and chickens.
Both neighbors are worried about the dogs coming back to the area if the owners decide to bring the animals back after a mandatory 10-day quarantine. With an elementary school located close to the neighborhood, Clarke said there are usually many kids riding bikes and scooters through the area.
“Dogs can be frightening and especially those two on the corner,” she said. “My kids don’t know if they are nice dogs or if they are the mean ones.”
Clarke said she is planning to buy another helmet for her daughter and although she still rides her bike, the girl stays close to the house.
“She said she’s OK with dogs, but the other day we were at PetSmart buying fish the other night and when a dog barked, she just went rigid,” she said. “I don’t think she’s quite OK yet.”
