Dog bites suspected attacker’s face in Fort Collins park

Lee Martinez Community Park as seen by SkyFOX on May 8, 2024. (KDVR)

DENVER (KDVR) — Fort Collins police said a man tried to sexually assault a woman in a park and was bitten in the face by a dog. The authorities later took the man into custody.

According to a release from Fort Collins Police Services, police said a woman was “crying and telling a man to get away from her” when she called 911 Sunday evening.

Dispatchers used her cellphone location to send officers to Lee Martinez Park at 600 N. Sherwood St. When officers found the woman near the center of the park, she pointed to a man walking behind her.

The woman reported that the man attacked her and she fought him for 20 minutes to prevent a sexual assault. According to police, a dog helped her in the fight by biting the man on the face.

The man, identified as 39-year-old Seth Estabrooks, was arrested without incident and charged with the following:

• Second degree physical strangulation
• Unlawful sexual contact involving violence or threats
• False imprisonment by force

Police said the woman had no relationship with Estabrooks, whom police described as a “transient from Boulder.”

The woman received medical attention and a criminal investigator examined the suspect at the hospital, where he was treated for the dog bites.