‘Trigger,’ a 115-pound bull mastiff that neighbors said was left outside in all weather and was often taunted by children, broke free of its backyard fence Friday afternoon and mauled two 13-year-old boys, killing one and injuring the other.
Yesterday, residents of Hillcrest — a middle-class, city enclave of single-family homes, manicured lawns and trimmed hedges — recalled a night of bloodshed, desperate searching and the discovery of 13-year-old Kenneth Santilla's body just before midnight Friday in an icy neighborhood stream, authorities said.
The other boy was found earlier that afternoon by a couple out for a walk, who came upon the young teenager that was terrified and bleeding profusely from his left hand.
"He said, ‘A dog bit me’," recalled Orlando Cepeda. "He was running. He was scared."
Cepeda and his wife, Carmen Baez tried to clean the boy’s wound and asked if he wanted an ambulance, but the boy refused and said he was going home.
Friends and family of the dead teen searched the neighborhood for Kenneth throughout the night, authorities said.
"They could not locate him," said Chief Assistant Passaic County Prosecutor Michael DeMarco. "They contacted the Paterson Police, which began an investigation into the missing teen."
John DeCando, Paterson’s animal control officer, said the dog’s owner, who has not been identified, was also badly wounded and had stabbed the animal multiple times before authorities killed the dog.
"The owner of the dog was bitten pretty bad on his hand," DeCando said. "The dog was humanely euthanized."
The NY Post identified the dog's owner as Paul Clarke. Clarke's wife, Sharon, told the newspaper that the dog was friendly, but had once bitten her son's friend.
She said if her husband had not stabbed the dog, he would have been killed.
It was unclear where the dog was euthanized, and what had transpired between the animal and its owner.
The dog’s body was sent to Trenton to be tested for rabies, among other things, DeCando said. Authorities had not filed charges against the owner yesterday afternoon and DeMarco said "the investigation is ongoing."
Neighbors said they had lived in fear of the animal for more than a year.
Randy Billie, a retired Paterson police officer who lives around the corner from Sherwood Avenue, where the dog lived, said the animal attacked a teenager last year.
"It’s nothing to play with. It’s like a miniature horse," Billie said of the dog’s size.
Dilma Monasterio, who also lives nearby, said she’s called police twice in the recent past about the dog because it would often vault fences in its own yard and in neighbors’ yards, including her own.
She said she was terrified of the dog because it often barked and acted in what she said was a threatening manner.
During recent bouts of snow and freezing temperatures, Monasterio said the dog was left outside and she could hear it barking throughout the day.
Victor "Buddy" Amato, chief law enforcement officer for the Monmouth County SPCA, said bull mastiffs are typically gentle, but because of their sheer power, they have to be exercised, cared for and socialized.
"People get breeds that they’re not capable of handling," he said. "It’s like giving a 45-caliber automatic (gun) to a kid who’s never shot a BB gun."
Neighbors said that not only was Trigger not exercised, he was often abandoned.
"The only time I ever saw it inside was during Hurricane Sandy," said Marcus Lugo, whose grandmother lives next to the family that owned the dog.
Lugo said neighborhood kids would often provoke the dog and try to get it to jump over its fence.
Authorities did not say whether the dog was provoked. They said the two boys were walking together on Sherwood Avenue in front of the dog’s house when the animal attacked, and they ran in different directions.
Maria Zachus, whose apartment overlooks the area where the boy’s body was found, said she woke before midnight after hearing footsteps behind her building. She said she saw the wounded teen, his arm bandaged, searching along the river’s edge with a group of people, using cell phone flashlights to see in the dark.
"I’m looking for my friend," Zachus recalled the boy saying. Someone then called out, "He’s here! He’s here!"
Zachus said and police showed up shortly after. She then heard a man yell out, "Not my son! Not my son!"
(Star-Ledger - March 1, 2014)
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