JERSEY CITY -- The wife of a Jersey City man arrested last night after police shot and killed their pit bull said the dog was never a threat to officers -- it was actually biting her husband while the couple was having "rough" sex.

James Manning, 31, of the 400 block of Garfield Avenue was arrested at the couple's home just after 9 p.m. yesterday and charged with two counts of aggravated assault on police officers and a weapons offense, all related to the actions of the couple's dog, Lily. He is also charged with weapons offenses related to a knife.

In court today the prosecutor said police responded to the location on a report of a woman screaming that she was being raped. The officers entered the apartment and Manning commanded the dog to attack the police officers, prompting them to shoot the animal, the prosecutor said, adding that police also said Manning reached for a knife.

But Manning's wife told The Jersey Journal that the police allegations are not true.

"We were having sex in the bed, a little rough, when my dog got agitated and jumped on the bed and attacked him," said Diane Manning. "She thought he was hurting me and I was telling the dog to get off him and I was screaming and that made dog more agitated."

The wife added that she screamed out the window to have someone call the police to help them.

"When they came in there were so many of them. They shot my dog while she was on top of my husband. He never told the dog to attack the police. I kept saying, 'This is my husband please don't shoot us'.... I was telling them 'Help me get the dog off him.'

Manning said at no time had she screamed that she was being raped. She said she had two hunting knives under the pillow of a chair far out of reach from the bed, adding that no one reached for the knives during the incident.

"All I saw was the white flash of the bullet," Manning said. "She yelped but wouldn't let go of him and then they shot her again. Then they handcuffed us... I was begging them 'Please let me go to my dog.' My husband was bleeding all over the place from his leg. 'Please let me do something.'"

Earlier today a spokesman for the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office said police responded to the apartment on a report of a woman screaming for help. When they entered, a pit bull turned and lunged at the officers. One officer opened fire, killing the dog. He would not comment on why the woman had been screaming for help.

Manning wiped tears from her eyes as her husband appeared in Central Judicial Processing court in Jersey City via video link from Hudson County jail in Kearny.

She is no stranger to tragedy.

In September of 2010 the body of her uncle, Donald Crawford, 58, was exposed by low tide near New Jersey City University's Tidelands Athletic Complex located off Route 440 near Country Village. Investigators determined Crawford had been living in a tent on the waterline and that he had been killed by a shotgun blast. No arrest was ever made.

James Manning's bail was set at $50,000 cash or bond.