A 7-year-old girl remains hospitalized after she was attacked by a Wildwood Police Department K-9 Sunday night in a Fruitland Park neighborhood.
The Lake County Sheriff's Office said Julianne Goodridge and her identical twin sister were playing in the backyard of their home.
Deputies said the girls went into the yard next door, which backs up to the home belonging to Officer Douglas Pelton and his 2-year-old K-9, Doki.
Deputies say Julianne reached through the fence, but when the dog lunged forward as if trying to bite her hand, she jumped back. Doki then jumped over the fence and attacked her.
Pelton was able to stop his Belgian Malinois dog from mauling the girl.
The girl was transported to Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, where she is recovering after undergoing reconstructive surgery on her face, neck, stomach and back.
"She's lucky to be alive," said Christine Greenaway, a neighbor. "I don't think that dog should've ever been kept at that home with a 4-foot fence."
The Wildwood Police Department is investigating the incident. Officials said this is the first incident in which a K-9 attacked a person without command.
"This is unchartered territory for us," said Lt. Gerard Olbek, of the Wildwood Police Department.
Doki is Wildwood's only K-9 and the first one on the force in decades. Doki had been in service for a little more than a year after completing his certification and was kept by an experienced K-9 handler. The dog has been suspended and is being held in a kennel pending the investigation.
The K-9 will assessed by an expert, and the Wildwood Police Department will conduct its own internal affairs investigation into how the dog was kept.