Man out with his family in Central Park attacked by pit bull

ByEyewitness News WABC logo
Thursday, June 13, 2019
Man out with his family in Central Park attacked by pit bull
Josh Einiger has details on a man attacked by a pit bull in Central Park.

NEW YORK (WABC) -- A man out with his family in Central Park Wednesday morning was attacked by a pit bull.

Now his wife is urging the dog's owner to come forward to make sure it did not have rabies.

The Chodkowski family was taking their daily stroll through the park and stopping to eat breakfast near the boat pond where they sit every day.

Erica Chodkowski was sitting with their 9-month-old Lexi, her husband Chris and their labradoodle when she says a pit bull, loose from its owner, vaulted itself onto the bench and started mauling her husband.

"My husband's a big guy and he's really shaken up, said Erica. "He's really hurt, it affects our life a lot, to keep going back for rabies shots for over a month. He's in a sling, he can't hold the baby. This was a big deal."

Chris needed more than 30 stitches to close a gash in his forearm.

The dog's owner stopped for a moment, seemed to apologize, but then left as outraged onlookers pleaded with him to stop.

"She was hysterical crying, so I'm shocked someone would leave with the baby being a mess," said Erica. "The amount of blood was really scary so I'm surprised he just left like that."

Police took a report but they say the dog owner probably didn't break any laws when he left the scene.

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