Massachusetts: Salem man Henry Hernandez, 40, gets NO JAIL TIME in pit bull mauling. One of the pit bulls had already been declared vicious by the city.

MASSACHUSETTS -- A Salem man whose two pit bulls mauled a 60-year-old neighbor and her yellow Labrador retriever last August pleaded guilty Wednesday to two counts of reckless assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a person over 60.

Henry Hernandez, 40, of 20 Summit St., was sentenced to two years in jail — but that sentence was suspended for two years, during which Hernandez will be on probation.

He will also pay the victim, Julie Carr, $25,000 in restitution within five days.

The sentence was the result of a plea agreement reached between prosecutor Lynsey Legier and Hernandez's attorney, Brad Keene, and accepted by Salem District Court Judge Joseph Jennings.

The agreement bars Hernandez from owning any animals while on probation. But the court did agree to an exception for two dogs owned by Hernandez's fiancée, Sonia Aoude.

Aoude was the registered owner of the two dogs, Prince and Luna, who went after Carr as she walked her dog, Kirk, on Ober Street.

One of Hernandez's pit bulls HAD ALREADY BEEN DECLARED VICIOUS BY THE CITY.

 

The city eventually ordered that the dogs be destroyed, Legier told Jennings during Wednesday's hearing.

But Aoude has acquired two new dogs, one of them called Princess, she said.

Carr was walking Kirk on the evening of Aug. 2 when Hernandez arrived home and opened the door to his car.

The pit bulls bolted from the car and ran directly toward Carr and Kirk, Legier said.

Carr held out her hand to try to stop one of the dogs, Prince. Instead, the dog latched on to her hand and shook his head back and forth.

The other dog, Luna, went after Kirk, breaking the dog's leg as it bit down. Then Prince went at the Lab, biting the dog's shoulder and chest.

 

Both Carr and Kirk received serious injuries.

Legier said Carr has undergone multiple surgical procedures on her hand and still experiences numbness. She also suffered a severed bicep and torn rotator cuff.

 

 

Legier called the woman's injuries "serious and traumatic."

Carr attended Wednesday's hearing. She submitted a written victim impact statement for Jennings to read and chose not to speak in court.

She also declined an interview after the hearing.

Hernandez and Aoude, said the prosecutor, had been under a previous order from the city of Lynn to keep Prince muzzled and leashed at all times while out in public.

 

Hernandez complained on social media that the news reporters were ALL LYING ABOUT HIM AND HIS NASTY DOGS:

 

Hernandez then showed how much respect he has for women by calling a news reporter the c-word. And here, ladies and gentlemen, is the pit bull owner on full display wanting us to believe he is being railroaded and that the victim is at fault. And he's so proud of himself that he took screenshots of his phone text messages and then posted them on Facebook. What a moron.

 

 

(The Salem News - March 8, 2017)

Earlier:

• Massachusetts: Henry Hernandez, 27, arrested after his pit bulls maul Salem woman. One of the pits had already been declared dangerous.
• Massachusetts: Woman mauled by Henry Hernandez and Sonya Aoude's pit bulls describes attack
• Massachusetts: District attorney says Pit bull owner Henry Hernandez 'recklessly' ignored muzzle order