For Immediate Release
Date: March 21, 2013

Savannah City Council today will recognize a City Park and Tree employee who jumped between a woman and a charging pit bull, placing the pit bull in a headlock until help could arrive.

William Usher, a Tree Maintenance employee, was working with a crew at Gaston and Price streets on March 1 when the incident happened. A woman was walking her two small dogs down the street when a pit bull on the loose began running toward the woman. Usher jumped between the woman and the charging dog, and restrained it by placing the dog in a headlock.

The woman recognized the dog as belonging to a neighbor, and went to find him. Usher kept the dog in the headlock until the neighbor could arrive. Nobody was hurt during the incident.

“We would never advise our employees to do something like that, but in these situations instinct sometimes takes over. Mr. Usher is just an overall good employee, so it’s something you’d expect from him,” said City Park and Tree Director Jerry Flemming. “This was certainly above and beyond the call of duty for a tree worker.”

A supervisor working across the street witnessed the incident, and reported it up the chain of command. Council will recognize Usher at the start of its Council meeting, which begins at 2 p.m. today in Council Chambers at Savannah City Hall, 2 E. Bay St.