A court battle ensued in the months since the incident and two Monroe County judges have ruled that the four boxers are dangerous and need to be euthanized.
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| One of the dogs which mauled the teenager |
Unless a restraining order is filed and approved by Tuesday, the dogs will be put down.
But the dogs’ owner, Timothy D. Iocoangeli, who also is facing criminal charges in the case, said although he feels terrible that the girl suffered trauma and injuries from the attack, his pets should not be blamed. Mr. Iocoangeli, 48, said the dogs simply were protecting his property and their litter of pups that were inside the home on Lakeview Dr.
“They’re not dangerous dogs,” Mr. Iocoangeli said. “I’m so sorry the girl got hurt. I feel terrible. She’s just a kid. But those dogs didn’t do anything wrong. They were protecting their property. My dogs are not vicious dogs.”
Monroe County Assistant Prosecutor Michael Brown said the girl, a Jefferson High School student who was 15 at the time, required three surgeries since the mauling in April and has suffered emotional trauma as well. He said she suffered more than 100 bites all over her body.
“It was a brutal attack,” Mr. Brown said. “She’s lucky she survived. She’s clearly traumatized.”
The girl’s name is being withheld because she is a minor and her mother declined to comment. But Mr. Brown said the girl was not trespassing — she was invited to the house — and was not inside the home when the four dogs burst through the door and pounced.
The attack was so vicious that, according to police reports and witnesses, neighbors tried to get the dogs off the girl by throwing bricks at them. Additionally the victim’s friend who was with her that day tried to shield her by lying on top of her as the dogs continued biting.
“It was terrifying,” said one witness, who asked not to be identified. “She had four dogs on top of her and there was nothing she could do. The girl was screaming. It was awful. I was very shaken up.”
Mr. Brown charged Mr. Iocoangeli with four felony counts of owning a dangerous dog that caused serious injury.
First District Judge Mark S. Braunlich also ruled that the dogs are dangerous and need to be euthanized. The ruling was appealed to 38th Circuit Court where Judge Michael W. LaBeau last month upheld the ruling to have the dogs destroyed.
One of the issues argued in court was whether the two teenagers were given permission to enter the home. The victim and her friend were at the residence with Mr. Iocoangeli’s son and a fourth teen. All four were friends and were socializing outside the house, court records show.
Two of the teens left and the other two stayed behind. The boy allegedly decided to go inside the house to get a drink and use the restroom. According to court testimony, he told the victim to stay outside “since the dogs were mean.”
When the teenaged boy opened the door the four dogs burst through the opening and attacked the girl who was standing in the front yard, court documents said. The boy who opened the door and tried to shield his friend from the dogs has since died in a car accident.
Mr. Iocoangeli wasn’t home during the incident but he said his life changed dramatically since that day. In addition to being arrested, he lost his job, his house and was forced to sell his pickup truck to try to save his dogs that are named Brooklyn, Buddha, Sheena and Sweeny.
“I love my dogs,” he said from his uncle’s home in Monroe where he now stays. “My dogs are my life. They’re my family.”
The dogs and the puppies were taken away and Mr. Iocoangeli said he has not seen them since. They are being held in Animal Control facilities until the order to euthanize is made official. Until then Mr. Iocoangeli said he will continue to fight to save his dogs and plans to go to trial in the criminal case because he believes the dogs acted as they did strictly for protection.
“I lost everything but I am going to fight this,” he said. “If that door wasn’t opened this would never have happened. My dogs deserve to live.”
(Monroe News - Nov 29, 2012)
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