CARTERET – Police are asking for a court hearing to determine if an unvaccinated and unlicensed Coolidge Avenue dog, with an alleged history of bite attacks including one involving a family member last week, should be deemed vicious.
Meanwhile the Carteret Health Department has advised Newark Animal Control to remove the dog, a 2-year-old Rottweiler named Boomer, as well as the family’s other dog, a Chihuahua, which is also unvaccinated and unlicensed, from the home.
The dogs are to be quarantined at the shelter, and tested for rabies, according to a borough spokesperson.
The incident comes less than six months after 3-year-old Aziz Ahmed of Carteret died after being attacked in his backyard by a neighbor’s two unregistered pit bulls. The boy’s mother also was injured while trying to protect her son during the attack.
A telephone message left for the Rottweiler’s owner has not yet been returned.
Around 5 p.m. Aug. 11 police were sent to 99 Coolidge Ave. on a report of a dog attack. Already on the scene were Carteret Fire Department EMS evaluating a patient, identified in the police report as John Mokrzycki III, 24, in an upstairs bedroom of the single-family house.
Before police entered the home they were told by dispatch that the emergency medical personnel and Mokrzycki III were barricaded inside the bedroom because the dog was still attempting to attack.
Police were able to secure the front door to the home so the dog could not exit.
As police awaited the arrival of animal control officers, a woman speaking from an upstairs bedroom said she had contacted the dog’s owner, the father of the bite victim, to come to the house and get control of the dog. When he arrived he was able to keep the dog in the backyard while his son was moved out of the house and into an ambulance, police said.
According to police, Mokrzycki III reported the dog had been sick in the past few days and was not eating.
When he went to try to feed him, Boomer attacked causing cuts to his left hand, the left side of his rib cage and arm pit, and the right side of his shoulder, police said.
Mokrzycki III also reported it was it was not the first time the dog had attacked him or others. He showed officers scars from previous attacks.
He was transported to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Rahway for treatment. He also was advised to be tested for rabies.
Also in Carteret:Carteret man killed in a dispute over parking space, police say
Following the incident, Police Chief Dennis McFadden sent a letter to Municipal Court Judge Allen Comba with the police reports and the summons issued to the dog’s owner.
The letter says police believe the dog meets the definition of a vicious dog under the borough’s code and asked that a hearing be held. No date for the hearing has been set, according to a borough spokesperson.
Police reports show Boomer allegedly bit three people last year, two women at the home and a pizza delivery person.
Email: srussell@gannettnj.com
Suzanne Russell is a breaking news reporter for MyCentralJersey.com covering crime, courts and other mayhem. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
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