Parents of boy mauled by pit bull pleased by arrests

Thursday, April 24, 2003 | 10:06 a.m.

The parents of a 7-year-old North Las Vegas boy who was mauled by two pit bulls in February, said this morning they are glad that suspects have been arrested in the case.

Delbert Douglas and Mickey Williams, both of North Las Vegas, have been charged with five misdemeanor counts and, if convicted face a maximum of six months in jail and $1,000 fine if the sentences run concurrent.

Austin Bechtel faces years of therapy for emotional and physical scars and his family faces tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills.

"I'm happy people have been arrested and charged, and I can only hope that whatever the outcome the penalty will fit the crime," said Sean Hughes, father of Bechtel, who was mauled Feb. 23 outside his home in the 400 block of Villa Espana while he was playing with two friends. "We are only hoping for some small measure of justice."

North Las Vegas Police have confirmed that they each posted $10,000 bail and are free. Information on a court date was not immediately available.

"Austin is doing much better now," his father said, "though he has post-traumatic stress and we are helping him deal with it."

Hughes said he and the boy's mother, Andrea Hughes, have not yet decided whether to take civil action.

Douglas and Williams each are charged with owning a vicious animal, vicious animal at large, vicious animal attack, no animal license, no animal vaccinations.

The dogs were humanely destroyed on March 11, police said.

Misdemeanor charges in Nevada carry a maximum of $1,000 fine per count and a maximum of six months in county jail.

Bechtel, a first-grader at Raul P. Elizondo Elementary School, had to undergo several surgeries, including one to repair a skull fracture caused by one of the dogs. The boy required more than 100 stitches to close his wounds.

Bechtel's final surgery was to remove bone fragments from his brain, apparently caused by one of the dogs biting down on his head.

After the incident his parents and authorities credited the boy with keeping the dogs from getting at a toddler and another friend, and they said his quick thinking -- rolling himself into a protective ball position -- probably saved his own life.

A neighbor armed with an aluminum baseball bat came to Austin's aid, striking the dogs, who fled and later were captured.

The Austin Bechtel Medical Fund has been established at Bank of America to help defray medical costs from the attack. Hughes said donors can go to any branch of the bank and make deposits.