By Geoffrey Croft
A woman who is seven months pregnant was punched in the face in Riverside Park after a confrontation with a man over her unleashed dog, NYC Park Advocates has learned.
The 39-year-old upper Westside resident was in the park on Sunday night with her dog off-leash at 7:40 p.m. when she was confronted by a man in his 40's who complained about her dog being off leach according to the police.
He took out his phone and tried to take a photograph of her and she put her hand up to block him and he punched her once on the left side of the face before fleeing northbound in the park.
She was not seriously injured.
Non arrests have been made.
The victim posted her account on FaceBook.
"Safety alert: I was physically assaulted in Riverside Park last night by a white male, late 30s to early 40s, Irish looking, around 5’7 or 5’8, stocky, wearing a navy blue or black skull cap and navy or black fleece with Yankees embroidered on the left side.
I admit I let my dog off leash an hour before offleash hours (approximately 7:45pm actually, but it was freezing last night and I didn’t want to wait until 9pm). He said he wanted to call his brother who is in “law enforcement” and come to arrest me, and he was enforcing the law in the meantime. I quickly apologized and leashed my dog — small, female, border collie who was hiding from the yelling man. I even acknowledged my neglect and offered to wait for his brother. I’m always willing to own my mistakes. However, I think this made him even more agitated. He said he was going to take a photo of me, and put the phone close to my face so I naturally put my hand out since he was getting closer to me, and that’s when he punched me in the face. I called the cops and an ambulance came since I’m 7 months pregnant.
I was slightly puffy and dizzy, but the gloves probably saved me from major bruising or broken skin. Again, I admit I (like many others routinely do) let my dog offleash too early, but a freezing Sunday eveningtypically means very few people in the park. In fact, there was only one other woman around who also had her two dogs offleash, and heard the man yelling from afar, but did not see it. I believe this man lives in the 80s or 90s near Riverside. Based on his level of anger, most likely has a temper issue that neighbors have encountered. If you have any information on this man, please message me."
Outrageous and I am glad this woman is OK. There is no excuse for this. Second thought: I am against people violating off-leash hours because my dog, who is always on a leash, is not friendly with all dogs. I have politely told this to owners with off-leash dogs and have been greeted with hostility. Nonetheless, there is no excuse for violence, and he should be caught and prosecuted.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, Spence. Sorry this woman was assaulted, hope the man is apprehended. Also very annoyed by those who ignore leash laws, the weather is irrelevant, as is the fact that other people are doing it. I have been knocked over twice when an off-leash dog came at my on-leash dog, and I was injured on one of those occasions.
ReplyDelete