NEW WESTMINSTER -- Ashley went into UPS to mail a package, an errand that took just five minutes. During that time, her dogs and friends were attacked.

Caleb North was sitting in the back seat. Another friend was in the driver’s seat. Both were waiting in the car with Ashley’s two dogs, Chloe and Luna. The driver’s and passenger’s side windows were open.

“We were both on our phones not really paying attention to the day,” said North.

That is, until they saw a man walking away from the building they were next to.

“I saw him just get real low in sumo squat attack position I think,” North said. “He jumped head-first, straight through the window.”

North said he thought the man might be trying to steal Luna.

“We kind of grabbed him and tried to pull him further in to the car,” he told CTV News Vancouver.

They were trying to make it so the man couldn’t get away with the dog, but North was stuck, still wearing his seatbelt.

“He basically just had her by the underside of the belly throwing her against the door, against the back windows,” North said. “He had his fist up. He was punching her in the head. He was strangling her.”

“I just heard my friend Caleb screaming for help,” said Ashley, who asked that her last name be withheld. “I never thought anything like this would ever happen in my life.”

“I was hitting him as hard as I could,” said North, “I never thought I’d have to use that force on a human being before.”

Ashley said she grabbed the man and hit him, trying to get him off her dog. In the process she ended up covered with bruises and said she has a sore rib.

The incident happened in the Columbia Square shopping area, a large parking lot with a SaveOnFoods, UPS and veterinary clinic, among other businesses, surrounding it.

It was just before 2:30 p.m., broad daylight, and there were a lot of people around.

“A bunch of Good amazing Samaritans helped so much,” said Ashley.

In a video she gave to CTV News, there’s a large group of people trying to wrestle the man out of the car. Eventually he is pinned by a witness and held until police arrived.

New Westminster police said in a press release that they arrested a 27-year-old man, who is now facing three counts of assault and one count of injuring an animal.

Ashley said her other dog, Chloe, was also hurt in the incident. The dog had a leash on and was choking while trapped under a seat of the car.

“I just really want justice for Chloe (and) Luna,” said Ashley.

She said as she was fighting the man off her dog, she thought she’d already lost her pet.

“I’d already tried to come to terms with her being gone as I was trying to get him off of her,” Ashley said.

Fortunately, the alleged assault happened beside a veterinary clinic. Ashley rushed her dogs to the vet to be checked out.

She worries her dog has some internal injuries.

“She’s been having some breathing problems, I’ve noticed.”

Other than that, Ashley said, Luna has bloodshot eyes because her blood vessels broke, and cuts in her mouth.

“She’s on the road to recovery and with all of everyone’s support and help I know that she’s going to be okay,” she said.

Ashley has set up a GoFundMe page to cover vet costs, and said anything she raises beyond the goal will be donated to an animal rights charity.

Both she and North thanked everyone, especially those witnesses who intervened to help them in this terrifying incident.

“It really shows faith in humanity, especially in a time like this during COVID, when everyone knows to stay away from each other and keeping distance,” said North.