NEW JERSEY -- Former Rockleigh Mayor Nick Langella, who was working part time at a service station he previously owned, is suing after being attacked there by a dog, according to his lawyer.
Langella, 82, spent a week in the hospital and two weeks in rehabilitation after a mechanic's dog mauled him in May, attorney Robert B. Linder said.
"It was an unprovoked, brutal and vicious attack," Linder said. "The injuries were extensive."
The suit, filed Thursday in Bergen County Superior Court, claims Langella was "attacked, mauled and bitten" at Steve's One Stop Auto Center in Norwood on May 12. Langella had owned and operated the body shop at 575 Broadway for more than 25 years before selling it in 2010 and was still working there part time, according to Linder.
Linder said Langella was opening up the gas station office when the dog, an Akita, repeatedly bit his hands and arms as well as his left leg. The former mayor is still undergoing physical therapy because he cannot close his left hand, his attorney said.
The lawsuit names the dog's owner, Donghyon "Steve" Kong; Garbis "Gary" Chamessian, owner of G&C Auto Service on the same site; the Cumberland Gulf Group of companies; Gulf Oil Limited Partnership; and Norwood Fire Company 1, which owns the property.
The suit also lists several unnamed defendants. Chamessian could not be reached for comment at the gas station Friday.
Linder said the defendants knew the dog was dangerous because there had been prior complaints of the dog being off leash and behaving in a threatening manner.
Norwood Police Chief Jeffrey Krapels said Friday that he could find no record over the previous seven years of police being called to the service station on an animal complaint.
Langella was mayor of Rockleigh, a town of 400 people, from 2003 to 2010 after serving as a councilman for two decades.
(NorthJersey.com - July 1, 2013)
