Man on Staten Island bitten by snake, police say

GRANITEVILLE, Staten Island (WABC) -- A desperate 911 call quickly brought police and medics to a Graniteville, Staten Island apartment complex on Friday night where they discovered 27-year-old Michael Larneard suffering from a poisonous snake bite.

"I came home and I seen (sic) the couple vans outside and I didn't know what was going on until this morning," says neighbor Luis Valentin.

The American Viper snake was in an aquarium inside the second floor apartment when it latched onto Larneard's arm and wouldn't let go, forcing him to cut off the snake's head as he called for help.

Larneard was rushed to Jacobi Medical Center - the only snakebite treatment center in the Tri-State Area. The center works closely with the Bronx Zoo to manufacture anti-venoms, but luckily no venom passed through Larneard's bite. He was released from the hospital Saturday morning, meanwhile, police removed another Boa Constrictor from his home.

"I absolutely think it's wrong, because it's illegal in the State of New York, and this is not a place to keep those type of animals," said another neighbor.

Jacobi treats five to ten patients a year who have snakebite injuries.