Exclusive: Grandmother mauled in Bronx pit bull attack speaks out
EASTCHESTER, The Bronx (WABC) -- The woman who was seriously injured in a vicious pit bull attack in the Bronx is speaking out about the harrowing ordeal exclusively to Eyewitness News.
Althea Woodson, who goes by Lisa, was watching her two young grandchildren at the Eastchester Gardens apartments when the large dog somehow got loose and pounced.
The 57-year-old suffered serious injuries to her hand and face, even losing part of her ear. She is now recovering at home.
"I have a gash, a gash here, a gash here," she said. "See where all the blood is?"
The physical pain is hard enough, but what truly overwhelms her is the the terror she felt as her grandkids played on a jungle gym and the dog lunged their way.
"I'm yelling at my grandkids, 'Don't come down, don't come, don't come down, don't come down,'" she said. "And then I see the dog again. It came back around me, and it lunged at my face. So I kicked it."
Eyewitness News obtained video of Woodson screaming on the bench after that dog grabbed her by the head and dragged her away.
"And it just kept coming and coming," she said. "And it won't go. It won't go nowhere, and it hurt so bad."
It wasn't until a stranger started beating the unleashed dog with a stick that it let her go.
Authorities say it was living in the Eastchester Gardens Houses, a NYCHA project where pit bulls are prohibited. But residents say they are all over the place.
City Council member Andy King said if the housing authority can't follow its own rules, maybe it should ban pets altogether.
In the meantime, Woodson's son is just happy she -- and the children -- are OK.
"You could call her a hero right now, because there were other kids in the park also," Walter Woodson said. "If that big dog attacked other kids, you know, it's..."
As he ponders what could have happened, the Animal Care Center of NYC has taken custody of the dog. Its owner, 23-year-old Shannon Ingram, has been charged with reckless endangerment.
"I don't know," Lisa Woodson said. "He tried to hurt my grandchildren, and I had to stop him. I had to."
NYCHA released the following statement: "We are saddened to hear of this incident and will be looking into this immediately. While our policy welcomes residents to have pets as part of their family, there are restrictions in our policy and we expect pets to not endanger fellow residents."
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