Man stabbed in apparent armed robbery saved by his dog

A Homestead man credits his personal protection dog for fending off a knife-wielding attacker who stabbed him in the forearm Saturday night. 

Dog trainer Tim Mullen said at about 10 p.m. he was walking his Belgian Malinois, Yogi, along the Homestead greenbelt off White and Parker Road between Honeycutt Road and Curtis Drive when the attack took place. Mullen said he saw two men smoking a pipe as he walked by them. 

Two men in their 20s came “out of the dark and hit me in the head and tried to rob me,” Mullen recalled. “Yogi did his job biting the one who stabbed me and tried to take my wallet. He continued to try to pursue them as they ran away but I had no backup and didn’t want him shot or killed, so I recalled him.” 

Maricopa Police Department spokesperson Monica Williams said the attack took place near Scola and Crane in Homestead. 

“The victim reported the suspects fled the scene after the dog came to his defense,” Williams said. 

The case was assigned to the police department’s criminal investigations unit, she said, and the investigation is ongoing. 

Mullen said he gave Maricopa police a description of the two men and the car they were driving. 

He described one as in his early 20s, about 5-foot-10 with a slender build. The other he described as a dark-haired Hispanic man, about 5-foot-7 with a stalky build. That man received dog bite wounds to his left hand and forearm. A third suspect was in the car, described as a rust-colored Toyota or Honda. 

“MPD and Maricopa Fire Department arrived and took me to the hospital for stitches for the stab wound and head trauma, cuts and scrapes,” Mullen said. 

“It could have been worse,” Mullen said. “K-9 Yogi’s training paid off.”