- A boy in Brooklyn had to get nine stitches last month after being attacked by a dog in a local park
- Angel Sanchez was playing with his dad after little league practice in Bushwick on April 14 when the dog randomly bit him on the back of the leg
- Sanchez’s father says the dog owner left the scene after attempting to help, and he now doesn’t “want another parent going through this”
The family of a young Brooklyn boy wants a pet owner to be held accountable after they said his dog attacked the child in a local park last month, leaving him with injuries that required multiple stitches.
On April 14, Angel Sanchez was playing with his father in Bushwick’s Thomas Boyland Park following baseball practice, when a dog — which his family said was a pit bull — randomly attacked him, per News 12 Brooklyn. In surveillance footage shared by the outlet, Angel can be seen running on the field as a dog appears behind him, then seemingly biting the child on the back of the leg.
“I noticed because of my son’s screams,” his father, Henry Sanchez, told the outlet in Spanish, adding that it “happened so fast.”
The dog was “just relentless in his attack,” per Tony Nunez, who News 12 Brooklyn described as a close friend and witness.
A New York Police Department spokesperson confirmed to PEOPLE on Saturday, May 3, that authorities received a call about “a vicious animal in a park” at 9 Aberdeen Street around 6:50 p.m. local time. When they arrived, police discovered that a dog jumped on a 7-year-old boy, who “sustained a bite mark to his lower back and scratches on his right leg.”
“The male was transported by EMS to Maimonides Medical Center in stable condition,” the statement continued.
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Angel, who has dreams of playing for the New York Yankees some day, described the scene himself to ABC affiliate WABC.
“I didn’t see it, he was going behind me,” the child said. “I pushed him away, but he got me again, and then I screamed.”
According to News 12 Brooklyn and WABC, the injuries required nine stitches. WABC reported that Angel’s cuts were located on his lower back, thigh and legs, and he recalled “bleeding and crying.”
During the attack, Angel’s father sprinted from home plate to right field to help his son, telling WABC that he grabbed the dog before biting it in the neck so it would release Angel. The owner could also be seen punching the dog in the surveillance footage, per the outlet, with the same goal of getting the animal to release Angel.
“We had to run out to the outfield and beat on the dog so that the dog [could] leave the kid alone,” witness Nunez recalled of the encounter.
As for the what happened to the dog’s owner, Angel’s father told News 12 Brooklyn in Spanish that the man “left and didn’t come back.”
Now, the dad says he wants both the owner and dog to be held accountable for the attack on Angel.
Police have since been unable to locate the dog and its owner, who initially attempted to help before leaving the scene, per WABC.
“In reality, I don’t want another parent going through this,” Henry told News 12 Brooklyn, adding to WABC that he just wants an apology.
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