GUILDERLAND — A Guilderland police investigator was struck on the side of his head and attacked by a dog, police say, after he answered a domestic-dispute call on Church Road last Saturday.

Jason A. Rood, 26, has been charged with two counts of second-degree assault, against a police officer; third-degree assault, against the complainant; driving while intoxicated; and felony aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle; along with numerous Vehicle and Traffic Law violations.

Additional charges may be pending, police say.

Senior investigator John Tashjian was treated for minor injuries, police say, after Rood struck him with his cast-encased arm and after being bitten on his arm by Rood’s Staffordshire terrier, commonly called a pit bull.

Police say they received a call regarding an intoxicated man holding down a child.
"Mr. Rood was being held down by his wife because he kept hitting her and there were two children in the middle of the scuffle," said Sergeant Adam Myers of the Guilderland Police.

Rood’s wife is not being charged.
Myers continued, saying, "Someone from inside that house called, and when we arrived Rood took off on a little 50-cc mini-bike."

A short police chase then ensued, said Myers.
"He came up out of a field and two police cars were coming up the road when he tried to cross and go into the other field," Myers told The Enterprise. "He got stuck in the mud and that’s when the senior investigator tackled him."

Rood’s dog was following him on the mini-bike, police say, and, when Tashjian was struggling with Rood, the dog bit him. Rood refused to call off the dog, according to a police report.

An animal control officer took the dog away, police say, and, as the investigation continues, the police department is talking with the district attorney’s office about adding endangering the welfare of a child to Rood’s charges.

Rood was arrested in May of last year for acting in a manner injurious to a child and second-degree unlawful imprisonment of a child, after Guilderland Police received a report that Rood was holding a five-year-old child, and that possibly a knife was involved.

Rood was stunned with a Taser gun after police repeatedly told him to release the child.

Rood was also arrested this past June for driving while intoxicated; operating a motor vehicle with a blood-alcohol content of .08 percent; and third-degree assault, with intent to cause physical injury. He later pleaded guilty to third-degree assault and was sentenced to serve three years of probation and pay a $165 surcharge, according to court records.