California jogger attacked by dog, then bitten by its owner, police say

A jogger was attacked by a dog in a California park, but police say it was the dog’s owner who left bite marks on her arm.

The jogger attempted to defend herself from the dog’s attack with pepper spray in Oakland’s Anthony Chabot Regional Park on Thursday morning, according to the East Bay Regional Park District Police Department.

The dog’s owner, identified by police as 19-year-old Alma Cadwalader, then “accosted” the jogger, sparking a physical altercation “where the victim was bitten by the suspect, causing significant injury," the department alleged.

Authorities told NBC Bay Area that the bite on the jogger's forearm was definitely human.

"It was pretty obvious it was not canine bites but rather human teeth," Lt. David Phulps told the network. "In addition to the bite, there was punching, kicking. This dog owner stopped her in her tracks on the trail."

Cadwalader's lawyer Emily L. Dahm said the dogs never attacked the jogger and that her client was trying to defend her pets.

"She assumed that they were going to attack her, but they didn’t," Dahm said. "It was a real overreaction to start pepper spraying the dogs."

Dahm said Cadwalader was trying to take the pepper spray when the jogger grabbed her and started to hit her. She said she bit her to get her to stop.

Cadwalader was arrested the following day and booked in Santa Rita jail, after police put out a call on social media asking for the public's help identifying the suspect. She is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday and faces felony charges battery, false imprisonment, and robbery, according to her lawyer.

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