But as he got closer, the ruckus grew increasingly chaotic. A crash. A muffled cry for help. Then a growl.
Ricks knew his neighbor’s son sometimes stayed at the apartment, so he grabbed a chair and smashed in the door. As the door swung out of the way, Ricks saw something he swears he will never forget, no matter how hard he tries.
"When I kicked the door open there was the two dogs sitting there," Ricks said, "chewing on the little boy like he was a bone."
The 10-year-old boy had been mauled and repeatedly bitten by his father’s two pit bulls after he was left alone, prosecutors said. The boy, whose identity was not released, was in critical condition at University Hospital last night, while his father sat in a holding cell, charged with endangering the welfare of a child, according to acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn Murray.
Ricks wrestled with the dogs for several minutes while pleading with the child to run, before Newark police arrived and shot one of the animals, said Sgt. Ronald Glover, a city police spokesman. The dog that was shot died, while it was unclear what happened to the other pit bull, Glover said.
The child was struck by bullet fragments, according to Anthony Ambrose, the prosecutor’s chief of detectives, who said those injuries were superficial and "likely" the result of the officers’ confrontation with the dogs.
The boy was so badly injured that he had no pulse at one point, and had to be resuscitated by emergency services personnel, according to James Stewart Jr., president of the city’s largest police union.
"Today was a horrifying event that most first responders will never see in their lifetime," he said.
The boy’s father, 41-year-old Enrique Carrillo, was charged with endangering the welfare of a child and remained at the municipal lockup last night, Glover said. It was not clear why the boy was left alone or where Carrillo went.
Ambrose said the child was staying in the apartment overnight although he does not normally live with Carrillo, who was described by neighbors as a local cab driver.
Ricks said the dogs were not normally aggressive, but both animals rushed at him after he knocked in the door.
"The little boy had just enough strength to get up and he tried to slide toward me but one of the dogs got back and started trying to bite on him again," Ricks said.
That cycle repeated for several minutes. While Ricks struggled with one pit bull, the other would turn its attention to the child, biting and clawing at the boy. Ricks said he repeatedly lost sight of the child in the fray, and that the boy was too hurt to even cry out for help.
"I was hollerin’ at the little boy to just get up, get up," Ricks said.
The boy suffered injuries to his head and face, according to Ricks, who said the child was smart enough to shield his neck from the dogs. At one point, the child managed to escape the second-floor apartment and tried to run downstairs, but he fell, Ricks said.
When the dogs heard the sound of the child tumbling down the steps, both of them rushed past Ricks and attacked the boy again.
"I just don’t know how I’m going to be able to handle not helping him as much as I wanted to," Ricks said, shaking his head and struggling to speak. "It’s a little boy … it’s a little boy."
When Carrillo returned home a short time later, neighbors said he didn’t even ask police about his son’s condition.
"He came home and he didn’t ask for his son, he asked for his dog," said neighbor Tatyana Polite, 16.
Standing outside of the housing complex, Ricks struggled to explain the carnage inside the apartment.
"When you looked into the house there was blood everywhere. It was like a massacre went on in there," he said. "It was horrific."
(New Jersey Star Ledger - Feb 13, 2014)
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