Police in Ocean County say that a group of dogs has been terrorizing a neighborhood, attacking a dozen people over a period.

Little Egg Harbor police say that the latest incident involving these dogs happened on Monday – resulting in six people getting bitten on Lake Placid and Lake Winnepesaukee drives. One of the victims was John Kita, who was bitten on the leg.

“They came around the van as I was vacuuming. I was trying to fend them off and suddenly, one just lunged at me and bit me in the upper leg,” Kita says. “It was a scary incident. I’ve been here over 40 years and nothing like this has ever happened.”

Police say that the three dogs involved in the attacks are known to the department since they have attacked before. They released a video on their Facebook page showing another Little Egg Harbor resident fighting off the dogs with a metal pole before police arrived.

“There were six incidents at least that we know of,” says Chief Richard Buzby Jr.

Buzby says that one woman was seriously injured in the attacks.

News 12 New Jersey is told that the dogs belong to 26-year-old Little Egg Harbor resident Esau Morales. The dogs have been escaping through a fenced-in yard. Neighbors say that they are frustrated by the escapes.

“There’s a proper way of training them to be a guard dog and a proper way of training them to be a house pet,” says neighbor Glenn Jonson. “But aggressive dogs like that – it’s not tolerated.”

Police say that prior to Monday’s incident, these dogs have attacked six others, bringing the total amount of victims to 12. Buzby says that the department is working to ensure that these dogs won’t return to the neighborhood again.

“The residents, in some cases, were terrified. Some of the victims were elderly,” says Buzby. “We were about an hour window away from having school children on the street from the school buses because it was the afternoon after all. So as bad as this was, it could’ve been much worse.

The dogs are currently being held at the Ocean County Animal Shelter. Police did not specify the breed of the dogs. Buzby tells News 12 that he was not sure if the dogs would be euthanized.

The dogs’ owner is facing multiple charges from animal control.