A Lakeland Electric worker who was attacked by a dog last month while on the job has filed a lawsuit against the dog's owner.
- Lawsuit filed in Polk circuit court, seeks $15k
- Linda Dionne attacked by dog in February
- PREVIOUS STORY: Lakeland Electric employee injured in dog attack
Linda Dionne went to Matthew Overton's house on Fish Hatchery Road to cut off the power when she was attacked by his dog, Sophia. A responding deputy wound up shooting and killing the dog.
Dog owner Matthew Overton was arrested that day.
Investigators said Overton had not posted a mandated dangerous dog sign and restrained Sophia after she had been declared dangerous last year.
There was a "beware of dog" sign on his front gate, but investigators said Sophia wasn’t restrained.
"Everyone has beware of dog. That doesn't say, 'Don't come in my yard, my dog will bite you.' It just means beware. Be on the lookout, there is a dog," Dionne said Wednesday.
Dionne's attorney, Dean Burnetti, said Overton was negligent in his handling of a dangerous dog. "And it doesn't appear that anything was done to monitor and make sure that things were complied with in terms of how the dogs were kept," he said.
The lawsuit filed in Polk circuit court seeks more than $15,000 in damages.
Dionne's attorney, Dean Burnetti, said Overton was negligent in his handling of a dangerous dog.
Dionne claims the lawsuit is about more than money. She said she wants it to teach Overton to be a responsible pet owner.
"Those kind of dogs, you have to be a responsible pet owner, and I really don't think this person was a responsible pet owner," she said.
Attempts to reach Matthew Overton for a reaction to the lawsuit were unsuccessful.
The day of the attack on Linda Dionne, animal control seized Overton's dog Haze. Haze was declared dangerous and Overton was ordered to meet a number of requirements including having the dog restrained and posting an official dangerous dog sign. That sign is now posted on his property.