Police didn’t think Russell Erickson was going to recover from a brutal attack at his Clarkston home in October.
In fact, he had been beaten so badly, they thought he’d been shot.
Erickson, now out of the hospital, is thankful he’s living to tell his story.
Police say Jaiyeda Jack, 19, broke into Erickson’s home Oct. 30 and beat him, Channel 2 Action News reported. They found Erickson on the ground in a pool of his own blood after he’d climbed out of a window to escape the attack. Erickson was taken to the hospital, where he was placed on life support.
“He punched me repeatedly in my face and cut my eye. My eyes were swollen shut,” Erickson said.
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Erickson had previously helped Jack with his resume and getting a job, the station reported.
With the help of a police dog named Indi, it took officers less than five minutes to find Jack sitting on the back of a patio near Erickson’s home.
“You would think he would get as far away as possible as quickly as possible,” DeKalb County police officer Norman Larsen told Channel 2. “When we came across him, it’s one of those (moments) I’ll remember my entire career because the dog did something amazing that day.”
Jack is in the DeKalb County jail on $100,000 bond, according to court records. He faces an aggravated battery charge.
Erickson still deals with brain swelling, Channel 2 reported, but is thankful for the officers and his neighbors who saved him. He has created a GoFundMe page to raise money to treat them to dinner and buy Indi a years' worth of dog food.
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