'It's too much:' Mom describes 4-year-old daughter's trauma after dog attack in New Jersey

Thursday, December 15, 2022

Exclusive: Mom speaks out after dog attacks her, 4-year-old daughter

A mother says her 4-year-old daughter was left traumatized after she and the child were attacked by a dog in Teaneck, New Jersey on Monday. Crystal Cranmore has the story.

TEANECK, New Jersey (WABC) -- In an exclusive interview with Eyewitness News, a mother says her 4-year-old daughter was left traumatized after she and the child were attacked by a dog in New Jersey on Monday.

Khaleen Brown Anderson said she had just pulled into the driveway of a home on Voorhees Street in Teaneck just before 3:15 p.m. and was taking her daughter, Abbey, out of a car seat when she saw the dog running up the street.

She says the brown-haired pitbull ran up to them and attacked.

"I flipped her on the car and I run around the car. That thing started chasing me. I had to jump through my drivers side. It came through my car," Brown Anderson said. "There was nothing more I could do besides calling for help."

Michael Policastro, a plumber who was working nearby, heard the commotion and rushed over to help and was able to scare the dog away.

"My first reaction was to kick it in the ribs ... then it turned around and looked at me. I just started yelling at it and it ran away," Policastro said. "It's one of those things that I wish I never witnessed, but I'm glad that I was there."

The mother and daughter were taken to Englewood Hospital for treatment.

Brown Anderson says her daughter was left traumatized.

"She cries in her sleep," she said.

The dog was impounded and its owner, Jason Evans, who lives a few blocks away, was issued two summonses for dog at large and registration of dog.

"We let the dog out to use the bathroom and she must've hit the lock. All I hope is we get the dog back and we are all going to take better precautions like put a padlock on the gate now and other things that will keep her inside," Evans said.

Police say this same dog attacked a mailman in 2017 after Evans said the postal worker opened his screendoor which let the dog out.

A judge will now determine what happens with the dog.

MORE NEWS: How to tell the difference between RSV, flu, and COVID-19