ATHENS, Ga. -- Authorities will toss some of the charges in a brutal dog mauling at an Eastside apartment complex last month after the teenage victim admitted he antagonized the dogs by bouncing a basketball against the outside wall of their home.

The ball struck a door that came open, allowing the dogs to escape and attack 13-year-old Johnchavious Echols, who suffered bites to his face, legs and body, said Patrick Rives, superintendent of Athens-Clarke Animal Control.

The teen first told officials the dogs already were outside his neighbor's Willow Mist apartment on Seagraves Drive and that they ran after and attacked him as he returned home from the basketball court.

A responding police officer called the dog attack the worst he'd ever seen, and Johnchavious will need extensive plastic surgery, officials said.

When Athens-Clarke police detectives questioned the victim, Johnchavious told a different story of what happened the afternoon of June 12, according to Rives.

"He admitted he caused it," Rives said. "He had been knocking his basketball against the side of the house, and it hit a door that had been previously damaged, and when the door came open, the dogs ran out.

"That changed everything for us," he said. "A provoked bite eliminated the citation for allowing a dog running loose."

Though animal control officers tossed out citations for violating the county leash law, they still will charge Johnchavious' neighbor for not having a valid rabies tag on each dog, he said.

Authorities had considered criminal charges - including violating the state's dangerous dog control law, a misdemeanor - but rejected that move after hearing the victim's revised story.