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Anchorwoman relives dog attack in jury trial

- Ospina says she still has flashbacks

By KELLY NIX

Published: March 5, 2010

IN EMOTIONAL and, at times, tearful testimony, KCBA and KION anchorwoman Olga Ospina recounted in a Monterey courtroom this week the fatal mauling of her beloved dog, Lulu, by a Labrador in front of the Pacific Grove post office almost three years ago — an attack Ospina said has left her with flashbacks and nightmares.

Ospina’s testimony Tuesday marked the second day of a jury trial in Monterey County Superior Court over a lawsuit the newscaster filed against the Labrador’s owner for the July 25, 2007 attack.

In her suit, filed in October 2008, Ospina asks that dog owner Donna Bazan and her father, Donald Armstrong, be ordered to pay her tens of thousands of dollars for pain and suffering, wage loss, vet bills and other damages.

Ospina rejected a $40,000 offer by Bazan and Armstrong to settle the case.

In tearful testimony, Ospina, 38, said she was on a routine walk with Lulu at about 11 a.m. when she passed Bazan’s Ford Explorer in front of the post office and saw Bazan’s Labrador, Samson, climbing out of a partially open window. The Lab lunged, bit Ospina’s arm and then attacked Lulu.

“I still had Lulu by the leash,” Ospina said. “That’s when he just grabbed her with his jaws.”

Frantically trying to fight off the dog, Ospina said she screamed “at the top of my lungs.”

“I said, ‘Help me, somebody please help me!’” Ospina said. “I was screaming so loud. I can’t tell you how many minutes [it was]. It seemed like an eternity ... I thought, ‘I’m just left to fend for myself.’”

Ospina’s cries were heard by Shirley Marien, who was in her second-floor office across the street, and Dale Yamaoka, a tourist at a garden shop a half block away.

“He was killing Lulu, and I couldn’t do anything because he had already gotten me,” said a tearful Ospina, who was handed tissue by Monterey County Superior Court Judge Lydia Villarreal.

Ospina’s fluffy Maltese was motionless and face-down on the pavement after the attack.

“Somehow [the attack] just stopped,” said Ospina, who sighed heavily between sentences. “And I saw her lifeless on the floor. I went to get her and didn’t know if she was alive or dead at this point.”

After it was over, Ospina said an unidentified woman consoled her. “I think I blacked out for a little bit,” Ospina said. “She helped me up and I was just in shock. My arm was bleeding ... and I was covered in blood.”

The little Maltese had been gravely hurt.

“I picked up Lulu and she had horrible injuries,” Ospina said. “She had this big hole in her.”

During Ospina’s testimony, Bazan also cried, wiping tears from her eyes with tissue.

Bystander Robert Hoffman rushed Ospina and her dog to Ocean View Veterinary Hospital in P.G., where the dog was treated by vets. On advice from Ocean View, however, Ospina later took the Maltese to a Santa Cruz vet.

Even though it seemed the dog might survive, Lulu succumbed to her injuries.

“She died Saturday, three days after the attack,” Ospina said. “I got a call from the hospital.”

During opening statements, Ospina’s attorney, J. Kenneth Gorman, told jurors Armstrong, who was sitting in the passenger seat of Bazan’s explorer when the dog attack occurred, did nothing to stop the attack.

“Mr. Armstrong did not get out of his car,” Gorman said. “He did not intervene, he did not yell at the dogs, he did not try to pull them off.”

But Armstrong, 82, who was on a cell phone and engaged in a conference call with three other people, testified at first he had no idea of the attack. Bazan and her young son were across the street getting coffee at the time.

“My attention was focused on the telecon,” said Armstrong, who sometimes wears a hearing aid. “My head was down, and I’m focused on hearing ....”

When he finally heard commotion and realized what was happening, Armstrong said he dropped his cell phone and got out of the car to help round up the dogs and put them in the Explorer.

Post traumatic stress

After the attack, Ospina said she had a difficult time working and socializing with friends, because she kept reliving the incident.

She said she was making $136,000 per year after the dog attack but lost about three weeks of work, worth about $8,000.

“I took additional time off because I could not stop thinking about the attack,” she said. “I could not eat; I could not sleep. I was in no condition to go to work.”

To deal with the emotional trauma, Ospina said she sought help from therapists, including one who prescribed her antidepressant and anti-anxiety medications.

The pills, Ospina said, helped her deal with “all the nightmares and just not being able to get the attack out of my mind.”

For months, Ospina said she was depressed. The 5-foot-5-inch Ospina lost about 10 pounds, she said.

“I didn’t feel like socializing, I didn’t feel like going out,” she said. “I just wanted to stay home.”

Ospina also sought help from Pacific Grove psychotherapist Rona Halpern, who tried to show Ospina how to replace memories of the attack with positive thoughts.

After an unspecified number of sessions, though, Ospina gave up on therapy, in part because she was asked to relive the dog attack. “It just didn’t feel like me,” she said. “I just wanted to cope with this on my own.”

Just four months after the incident, Ospina bought another Maltese named Gigi, which cost her $1,200.

To this day, Ospina said she still has nightmares and flashbacks of the event. Certain “triggers,” such as passing the P.G. post office, remind her of the terrifying day.

“Do you have waking flashbacks?” Gorman asked Ospina.

“Yes, absolutely,” Ospina responded.

“How often?” Gorman asked.

“Probably every day,” she said.

During the attack, Ospina received a minor puncture wound to the forearm from a dog bite. About six hours after the incident, she went to CHOMP to be treated. Though the wound did not require stitches, Ospina said it left a small scar. “You can see it a little bit if you are up close,” she said, rolling up her sleeve to show the jury.

Ospina said she no longer feels safe and now has a fear of big dogs. “I carry pepper spray on my key chain now,” she said. “I won’t leave home without it.”

Since California law doesn’t allow Ospina to recover pain and suffering damages for the death of her dog, she wants the jury to award her damages based on the emotional trauma she says she experienced from the dog attack.

Besides Armstrong’s role during the attack, Samson’s ownership is key in the trial.

Bazan, who had Samson before moving in with her father at his Rancho Palos Verdes condominium, insists she is his owner. Perhaps in an effort to collect the most money possible, Ospina wants the jury to determine Armstrong — a certified FAA pilot — owns Samson. Armstrong’s condo is worth $600,000, he owns two timeshares and has a pension.

Ospina says a German shepherd named Kodiak in Bazan’s Explorer also jumped out and joined in the melee, but a witness said he thought only Samson was involved. Kodiak has since died.

Bazan and Armstrong’s attorney, William Gavin, told the jury Kodiak was not involved. “We do not believe Kodiak did anything or played any role in the attack,” Gavin said.

After the incident, the City of Pacific Grove took Samson and quarantined the dog for 10 days before releasing him back to Bazan. Pacific Grove also conducted a vicious-dog hearing at city hall a few weeks later to determine if the Lab should be euthanized.

Ospina pleaded for Samson to be killed, but hearing officer Carmelita Garcia, now the city’s mayor, determined the dog was a good candidate for behavioral training.

The Lab underwent training in southern California and passed with “flying colors,” according to records. Since the attack, the dog has not been aggressive toward other animals, records show.

The trial resumes March 8 at the county courthouse, 1200 Aquajito Road in Monterey.