The dog that savagely attacked a Port Hadlock woman late last month had previously bitten two other people, including a woman who needed 16-stitches in her leg following the bite, according to court documents.

A 30-year-old Port Hadlock man was arrested for having a dangerous dog after the most recent incident, which sent the bite victim to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle where she needed a skin graft to close the wound on her right arm. The deputy who investigated the attack said she was also unable to move the fingers on her right hand due to the injury.

Caspien A. Osiris Whitesell was booked into Jefferson County Jail on outstanding warrants for third-degree malicious mischief (domestic violence) and fourth-degree assault (domestic violence) in July. He was later released on his own recognizance.

Whitesell was arraigned on one count of having a dangerous dog (that caused severe injury or death to any human) Friday,
Aug. 13. in Jefferson County Superior Court.

He entered a pleading of not guilty, and his trial was set for Nov. 1.

In a probable cause report, a deputy recounted getting a call from 911 dispatchers about a person who had been bitten by an animal just before 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 20.

The woman was treated at the scene by emergency responders from East Jefferson Fire Rescue, then taken to Jefferson Healthcare in Port Townsend. She was later transported to Harborview Medical Center due to the severity of the wound.

After the attack, the dog was locked in a bedroom for the night as plans were made to safely capture the dog the next day for a 10-day quarantine.

When contacted at the jail, Whitesell said the dog wasn’t his and he didn’t know who owned it.

When told by the deputy that the bite victim had already told authorities that the dog was his, Whitesell allegedly said he was getting ready to go to the beach and the dog was inside the trailer on the property.

He said “the wind must have blown the door open and the dog got out,” according to court documents.

Deputies determined the dog had bitten another person on the day of the attack, and has also bitten a 41-year-old man on West Swaney Street in Port Hadlock early on the morning of Dec. 23.

That bite victim had injuries on his right wrist, right pectoral area and left abdomen and was taken to Jefferson Healthcare for further treatment.

At the time, both Whitesell and the victim told police they didn’t know who owned the dog or what it even looked like.

In the most recent attack, the woman said she was walking home from work and her sister’s house, when a large dog crossed the road and then went into the woods.

She then noticed the dog as she got to the corner of Megs Way and Frayne Street and saw the dog following her.

She said she led the dog back to Mason Street and saw a man, later identified as Whitesell, and shouted out to him to see if it was his dog.

He said it was, “and that he was surprised how the dog was being so cool with her because he doesn’t like strangers,” according to court documents.

Whitesell thanked her for returning the dog, but when the woman turned to walk away, the dog “locked onto her right arm.”

Whitesell had to tackle the dog to get it off the woman.

The woman then pulled up her hoodie sleeve and saw she had “a giant hole in her arm and couldn’t move her hand.”

After Whitesell put the dog in the trailer, he came back and the woman made him find her phone to call her boyfriend.

She then made him call 911, according to the statement of probable cause in the case.

A deputy contacted another person who had been attacked by the dog based on earlier reports of dog bites.

When another victim was contacted, she said she had been bitten by the dog in May, and said she had also been attacked by the same dog in January and had to get 16 stitches in her leg from the bite.

The woman, and two others who had been at the home on West Swaney Street during the time of the January attack, said they didn’t know the dog. 

One of the witnesses later said they knew Whitesell owned the animal, but made up a story because no one wanted to get him into trouble.

The woman in the most recent attack has already undergone three surgeries because of the bite.