Police in Taunton are investigating after a woman was attacked by six pit bull terriers while walking her dog down the street.

At around 8:45 p.m. on Wednesday, a Taunton police officer on routine patrol observed a woman running down the middle of the road in the area of 187 Broadway. The officer saw the woman, described by police as a 51-year-old Taunton resident, being chased by six pit bull terriers who then attacked her.

The officer pulled over his cruiser to get out and help the woman, at which point police said the dogs turned toward him as if to attack him. According to a statement by Taunton police, the officer felt discharging his firearm would put the woman at risk and instead returned to his cruiser to activate the sirens and air horn in an attempt to divert the attention of the dogs.

“The sirens distracted the dogs for enough time for the woman to get to her feet, allowing the officer and a good Samaritan to escort her into the officer’s cruiser,” Taunton police said in a statement.

An initial investigation by Taunton police found that the pit bulls’ owner, a 36-year-old local man, opened his door and one of the dogs escaped. When he opened the door to chase after the dog, the five other dogs pushed through and “immediately” began attacking the woman.

The man who helped the woman, a 53-year-old Raynham resident, was bitten by one of the dogs and suffered an injury to his leg and drove himself to an area hospital.

The woman was treated by emergency medical services and then transported to Rhode Island Hospital with serious, but not life-threatening injuries, police said.

The dogs’ owner came out of his house to try and get to the dogs under control, police said. He was eventually able to bring them inside, but not before a dog tried to jump into an open window of the police cruiser to attack the officer on scene.

Taunton Animal Control seized and quarantined the six pit bull dogs. A hearing will be held with the owner to determine the dogs’ fate. The incident remains under active investigation, according to Taunton Police Chief Edward Walsh.