A pit bull was thrown off a second-floor balcony while trying to protect a 15-year-old girl from a man on Monday, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said.

The incident happened around 7 p.m. at a residence in unincorporated St. Petersburg.

Investigators said the suspect, Nigel Myers, 44, had followed a 15-year-old girl into a bedroom, and after she left the room, he kept trying to get her to go back.

A 3-year-old pit bull named Sparta began jumping on Myers in a “protective manner” as Myers tried to get the girl in the room, deputies said.

Authorities said Myers threw Sparta against a dog cage before picking the pit bull up by his two hind legs and throwing him off the second-floor balcony.

Sparta was taken to a nearby animal hospital with serious injuries, but is expected to surviv

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