NEW YORK -- Star, the pit bull shot in the head by police in the East Village Monday, is now in “critical but stable condition,” animal control officials said.
Animal Care & Control was caring for the wounded pit bull, but an agency spokesman refused Tuesday to further describe Star’s condition.
Star and its owner, a homeless man named Lech Stankiewicz, were outside a KFC at 14th St. and Second Ave. about 4:15 p.m Monday when police arrived for what appeared to be a medical situation involving Stankiewicz.
Witnesses said Stankiewicz, a drifter who regularly squats in Brooklyn and goes by the name Polak, was shaking, fell over and appeared to be having a seizure. Police sources said he was drunk.
Police said the dog, adopted by Stankiewicz last year for protection on the street, reacted angrily to officers approaching its owner, leading one cop to fire.
Alejandro Cararubia, 28, who works at a nearby restaurant, saw the shooting.
“The dog barked and jumped at the cop. The cop shot him in self-defense,” Cararubia said.
[In a video clip, you can see the dog charge at a woman who approaches the unconscious man. The police officer must have yelled to get the dog's attention because it then turned and ran full force at the officer, who had to fire his weapon at it.]
Afterward, Stankiewicz was treated for minor injuries at Bellevue Hospital and then taken into custody on an arrest warrant for an open container summons, police said.
Stankiewicz’s sister said he was born in Poland and moved to Illinois as a child, but left home about a decade ago due to a drug problem.
“I didn’t even know he had a dog,” she said.
(NY Daily News - August 14, 2012)
