Pit bull attacks elderly woman in Passaic

PASSAIC

It's a high fence between 172 and 174 9th Street in Passaic, six feet and a few inches.

But a 90 pound pit bull apparently had no problem getting over the fence where the dog attacked an 82-year-old woman who was feeding birds in her backyard.

Police say the dog mauled her left arm and right leg before jumping back over the fence.

"I saw the woman, she was coming out with her leg, because her leg was bleeding, and it was wide open, and the cops came and her hand, it was bit," said George Mendes, an eyewitness.

And for 12-year-old George Mendez, that scene brought back some terrible memories.

He says the same dog bit him on October 12th, right there in the leg and he says police interviewed him in the hospital.

"That dog bit me and then they took me to the hospital, and then the cops they were asking with me," Mendez said.

But that was the last he saw of the police.

"They never came, they questioned me at the hospital, but they never came," Mendez said.

"So they never came to look at the dog that was two doors down that had bitten you?" Eyewitness News reporter Jim Dolan asked.

"There was no follow up, there was nothing, it just happened and they just let it go," said Eric Calderone, a family friend.

John Krashewski, the grandson of Tuesday's victim, told Eyewitness News that his grandmother will be OK, and acknowledged that she's pretty tough.

"She's from the old country," Krashewski said.

She was taken to St. Joseph's Medical Center for treatment.

Animal control officers took possession of the dog.

No charges have been filed.

Police in Passaic are still investigating the circumstances.

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