Family says coyote attacked toddler outside LA home

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A coyote ambushed and injured a 2-year old girl outside her Los Angeles home in a daytime attack before her father chased the animal off, her family said.

Home security video obtained by KTLA-TV shows the animal grab and drag the toddler across her lawn and sidewalk, just seconds after her father took her out of a car seat, set her down and turned back inside the vehicle to gather her toys. They had just arrived home from her preschool.

He heard the girl screaming on the other side of the SUV, then realized she was being attacked by what appeared to be a coyote. The father, Ariel Eliyahuo, shouted and charged at the animal, causing it to release the girl, pause briefly a short distance away, then scamper off.

The girl suffered scratches and bruises in the Friday attack and was treated at an emergency room, where she received the rabies vaccine.

“She has a lot of scratches on her left leg and one of them is really deep,” her mother, Shira Eliyahuo, told KTLA. “The coyote just kind of dragged her so her face is also a little bit bruised.”

Coyotes are familiar sights in many Los Angeles neighborhoods, though attacks on people are rare.