A man who sicced his pit bull on multiple people in downtown Portland — including a teenager and a Black man also subjected to a racist slur — was sentenced to nearly six years in prison on Tuesday.
Zachary Tyler Hay, 30, pleaded guilty to second-degree assault, first- and second-degree bias crimes, the unlawful use of a weapon and maintaining a dangerous dog in connection with the May 12 maulings.
According to court records, Hay ordered his pit bull to bite the teenage boy while near Southwest 13th Avenue and Alder Street. Two men witnessed the attack and rushed to help the teenager.
But when one of the men tried to intervene, Hay recognized him as a security guard from a downtown Safeway, called him a racist slur, and then unleashed the dog on him, the probable cause affidavit says. The security guard is Black.
The dog severely bit the man’s chest and hand during the attack before turning on the other man who tried to intervene, court documents say. The dog bit that man in the groin.
Hay then fled the scene, but police arrested him on May 20 after the guard spotted Hay and his pit bull and called the police.
Court records show that Hay was convicted of theft in 2023 and animal abuse in 2016.
Multnomah County Animal Services euthanized the pit bull in July, a spokesperson said.
