A man was found dead in Ving Rhames’ yard on Friday, and it was believed he had been killed by Rhames’ dogs. The actor owns three 200 pound mastiffs and an English bulldog, and the man, Jacob Adams, 40, was their caretaker. He was found on the front lawn with bite marks. Most news agencies are still reporting this is a dog mauling, however a few are mentioning the possibility that Adams actually died of a heart attack.

“Two mastiffs, each weighing about 200 pounds, apparently attacked Adams, whose body had numerous bite marks when it was found on the front lawn by officers, police have said.

“Adams might have been mauled to death, but he also might have died of heart failure during the attack, coroner’s officials said Friday.

“Three bull mastiffs and an English bulldog were seized by animal services following the attack, police said.

“Rhames, 46, an action star who appeared in the ‘Mission Impossible’ series of films, was not home at the time of the attack.”

[From the Associated Press]

Forty is an incredibly young age to die of a heart attack, but it’s certainly not out of the realm of possibility. TMZ has more information from police on the incident.

Police tell TMZ that the victim of the dog attack at Ving Rhames’ home could have had a heart attack, since none of the wounds — on his arms and legs only — appear to have been life threatening. They speculate that he was possibly running for his life after a confrontation with the dogs. TMZ has learned the 40-year-old caretaker lived at the house and had been an employee of the actor for two years. Tragically, police say the man fed and cared for the animals on a daily basis. In a press conference today, a police spokesman said the victim appears to have jumped the fence to try to get away from the dogs, and died sometime early this morning. Cops say the dogs are very friendly, and as we reported, police are not aware of any previous problems. They do not anticipate charging Rhames with a crime, as this appears to have been a “pure accident.” The animals have been quarantined and will be held over the weekend at an undisclosed shelter. Blood samples will be taken to determine if they have rabies or other dangerous diseases.

[From TMZ]

US Weekly has an article which references an interview Rhames gave in 1999 to the Los Angeles Times where he mentions his dog Kong, a 170-pound Fila Brasileiro. “’The dog was actually bred to guard slaves,’ Rhames said. ‘It was the only dog they found that had the temperament to guard a slave. It could be around you every day, but if you tried to run away, it would deal with you like it never saw you before.’” Whatever happened to Jacob Adams, it’s an incredibly sad story. It sounds like most of what’s being written right now is still a lot of conjecture, so it will be interesting to see how this story plays out. Rhames is out of the country filming a movie, and hasn’t made any public comments, even through a spokesperson.

Images thanks to PRPhotos.