Owner of attack pit bulls released on bail
A San Antonio man who — with his wife — was arrested on felony charges after their dogs got out of their yard and killed an elderly Air Force veteran was released from jail Saturday on bail.
Christian Alexander Moreno, 31, was released after posting bonds totaling $139,000. He had spent almost a month in jail. His wife, Abilene Schnieder, 31, remained in jail as of Sunday afternoon, online court records show.
Moreno and Schnieder were arrested last month after their dogs — American Staffordshire terriers, a breed of pit bull — escaped from their West Side yard and killed Ramon Najera Jr., 81, of Leon Valley, during an unprovoked attack. The dogs also bit and injured Najera’s wife, Juanita “Janie” Najera, 74, along with two witnesses who tried to stop the mauling in the 2800 block of Depla Street.
Moreno and Schnieder are each charged with felony offenses of dangerous dog attack causing death and injury to an elderly person. Both are also charged in an unrelated case of theft of $750 to equal or less than $2,500, a Class A misdemeanor, court records show.
Moreno’s attorney previously filed a motion to reduce his bail, which was to be considered at his pretrial hearing set for March 28. It was not immediately clear whether that motion will still be considered since he has bonded out of jail.
Schnieder’s pretrial hearing is set for April 11.
Moreno’s and Schnieder’s dogs, who had a long history of escaping from their yard and running loose on their street, broke out of their fenced property on Feb. 24, seizing on the
Najeras, who were visiting the home of a seamstress and friend living next door to the dogs. The Najeras visited the seamstress’ home so Ramon Najera could get a pair of pants hemmed for a new job he was about to start as a security guard. But the seamstress wasn’t home when the couple stopped by shortly before 2 p.m.
At least two of the dogs attacked and bit Janie Najera, who fell to the ground between a car and the street. Ramon Najera Jr. tried to help his wife and was mauled so viciously by the dogs that a dialysis shunt was torn out of his body.
A graphic video recorded by the relative of a neighbor who got in her car and drove up next to the bloody scene to try to stop the mauling captured 53 seconds of the dogs attacking Najera. The driver repeatedly sounded her car horn, trying to scare the dogs away to no avail.
When one dog ripped the dialysis shunt from Najera’s body, a woman riding in the car that drove up next to the attack began to shriek with horror.
“Help him! Oh my gosh!” that woman is heard screaming on the video. She then told the driver: “Reverse, reverse!”
San Antonio firefighters arrived before the police and had to use axes and poles to fend off the dogs. One fire captain was bitten by one of the dogs.
“Get them away from us,” the fire captain yelled at Moreno and Schnieder, according to a video that the local Univision TV station posted on social media. “Your dog bit me and possibly killed another person.”
City Manager Erik Walsh has said that if the police had arrived before the firefighters, the dogs would have been shot and killed by officers.
The two dogs involved in the attack, and a third dog running loose at the time of the incident, were later euthanized. All three dogs belonged to Moreno and Schnieder.
Various dogs belonging to the couple had previously bitten other people before the fatal mauling occurred.
On at least two occasions, dogs belonging to the couple were seized by Animal Care Services and held in quarantine. But in both cases, Moreno and Schnieder paid the necessary fees to get their dogs back.
Neighbors on Depla Street told the Expressnews they began living in fear after Moreno and Schnieder moved to the block with their dogs in 2020.
During the time Moreno and Schnieder have lived there, San Antonio’s 911 system received 114 calls about the family, while the city’s 311 nonemergency phone system received 42 calls, Walsh said.
The couple previously lived in Castroville.
Najera’s widow has since filed a lawsuit against the dog owners and one of their relatives, Carlos Moreno, who owns the Depla Street home where they lived. She is seeking damages of more than $1 million.
Moreno posted $75,000 bail on the dangerous dog attack charge, $50,000 bond on the injury to an elderly person charge and $14,000 bond on the theft charge, online court records show.
Schnieder faces the same bail amounts on the dangerous dog attack and injury to an elderly person charges. Her bail on the theft charge is set at $3,000.
While out on bond, Moreno may not possess or own any animals, have firearms, contact certain people or consume alcohol, online court records show.
Moreno also faces a motion to revoke his deferred adjudication in Medina County on an unrelated charge of theft of or more than $2,500 but less than $30,000, online court records show. He had received four years of probation for that offense in June 2020. A court hearing on that motion to revoke has been set for March 21 in Medina County.