Lawyer Attacks Pit Bulls, Saves Woman
When Paul Geller spotted two pit bulls attacking a pregnant woman walking her small dog in Delray Beach, Fla., this past weekend, he didn’t hesitate.
Pulling over to the side of the road, the 39-year-old plaintiffs securities litigator warned his 8-year-old son not to try this himself and then leaped out of his BMW and attacked the two dogs and drove them away, according to the Wall Street Journal law blog.
Geller had perhaps unique credentials for the fray: He is the partner in charge of the Boca Raton office of Lerach Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins. Plus, he is a practitioner of jujitsu, a weaponless Japanese martial art that is defined by Merriam Webster as “employing holds, throws, and paralyzing blows to subdue or disable an opponent.”
An adrenaline rush helped, Geller told the Journal. He said he kicked and barked orders at the most aggressive dog, and both animals ran away. “In the course of litigation, there’s no doubt that you get adrenaline rushes from time to time,” he says, “but nothing like this. … The woman was on the ground and one of the pit bulls was on top of her. Blood was everywhere.”
Geller then drove both the victim, Stacey Lewis, 31, and her small schnauzer from the scene to seek treatment, reports the Palm Beach Post. Lewis, who weighs 95 pounds, reportedly suffered a facial bite, but is fine, as is her baby. Her dog also survived, but needed 100 stitches.
“Mr. Geller is a true hero,” her husband, David, told the Post. “There could have been a loss of life.” The two pit bulls reportedly belong to a nearby homeowner, who has been cited for letting them run loose.
