Mikayla Danielle Hull

GRAND RAPIDS, MI — Being bitten by another person is a first for Jonathan Damon.

Damon, an attorney working downtown at 77 Monroe Center, said alleged purse-snatcher Mikayla Hull pierced the skin of his wrist when she bit him during a struggle with Damon and other citizens on Tuesday, Sept. 17.

“People keep talking about human bites being worse than dog bites,” he said. “I’ve been bitten by dogs and I’m not sure which is worse.”

Police said Hull is expected to be charged with larceny from a person and aggravated assault following the afternoon incident, where witnesses say she grabbed a 75-year-old woman's purse and tried to flee on a bike before several pedestrians tackled her on Ottawa Avenue NW behind the Grand Rapids Art Museum.

Damon sat on Hull while detaining her and punched her in the head a few times when she began biting him.

Damon went to the hospital for a tetanus shot and a prescription for antibiotics after the altercation, a physical affair on a downtown street crowded with workers and ArtPrize-goers that was captured on video. He said doctors told him to return to the hospital if the bite wound became infected.

Grand Rapids Police Lt. Pete McWatters said authorities do not plan to pursue any action against Damon for punching Hull.

"I don't think a crime was committed by him," McWatters said. "To the contrary, he was defending himself."

Damon believed the woman he struggled with was a man, he said. In a brief interview with The Grand Rapids Press immediately following the incident, he repeatedly referred to her as a “he.”

“I was raised to never hit a girl,” he said. “I was raised at a time when you had no concept of a girl doing that. In the 1950s, girls didn’t snatch purses. They wore petticoats.”

He said it’s unfortunate what happened. He expressed concern that the incident would reflect negatively on Grand Rapids.

“It’s the day before ArtPrize and you have all these people from out of town,” he said of the Tuesday incident. “You don’t want that stuff happening to anybody, but particularly to visitors.”

Despite praise from the daughter of the woman who’s purse was snatched — and some criticism from people on the internet for punching a woman — he’s happy to see the whole thing go away.

“I’m trying to put this behind me,” he said. “I’d rather forget about it.”

Garret Ellison covers business, government and breaking news for MLive/The Grand Rapids Press. Email him at gellison@mlive.com or follow on Twitter & Instagram