By SAM STERN & FARAZ T. TOOR
A Bronx woman who police say unleashed her two pit bulls on a man in a violent attack last month pleaded not guilty at her arraignment Thursday.
Cynthia Oliver, 55, who was led into the courtroom in an orange prison jumpsuit and a shaved head, faces eight counts of assault and two counts of reckless endangerment for allegedly let her dogs off their leashes on a 62-year-old man on Sept. 11.
A man who claimed to be Oliver’s son attended the arraignment and defended her.
“How could an 80-pound woman hold back two 85-pound pit bulls?” he said after the arraignment. “She was trying to pull them off and she couldn’t.”
It is unknown what Oliver’s weight is, but she appeared thin at her arraignment.
Bystanders took video footage of the attack near Oliver’s Belmont Avenue home. The video shows a person—who authorities say is Oliver—holding the two pit bulls’ leashes as they mauled Francesco Bove, an artist.
It is not clear from the video if Oliver ordered the dogs to attack Bove, as investigators say she did, but the pit bulls eventually got off their leashes and attacked Bove for nearly two minutes in the middle of the street.
It was not known what prompted the incident or whether some kind of dispute occurred.
Several bystanders intervened and attempted to shoo away the dogs and protect the artist, but the canines continued their assault on him until they later turned on a 46-year-old man who tried to help Bove as he bled on the ground.
According to reports, firefighters eventually sprayed the dogs with water to keep them at bay, and a bystander then put them on leashes.
The Good Samaritan and Bove suffered lacerations, were taken to the hospital, and were in stable condition.
The dogs reportedly bit Bove so severely that he lost an ear and suffered nerve damages in his arms.
Bove reportedly said the pit bulls attacked on their own accord.
Bove’s son Anthony said his father was on his way to church. Authorities sent the dogs to Animal Care and Control.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.