Central Park dog stabber a well-known menace: ‘I always kept my dogs away from him’
The brute who sicced his dogs on an elderly rescue mutt before fatally stabbing the poor pooch is a known menace in Central Park — and fellow dogwalkers say they keep their own pets far away from him and his pack of rowdy pups.
“The three dogs were always trying to fight with everybody and trying to fight with others dogs,” said Roberto Cervantes Monday as he sat on a bench with his 9-year-old poodle. “His dogs are always leashed but he lets them run up to people and doesn’t stop them.”
Police are still searching for the heartless creep — who allegedly sunk his knife into Eli, a 14-year-old pit bull-German shepherd mix, Saturday night near the 106th Street and Fifth Avenue entrance of the park.
Cervantes knew of the unidentified suspect, who walks three pit bull mixes, and that his friend was once attacked by one of the dogs.
“The small black one is very aggressive, always,” Cervantes said. “He came up to my friend and his dog and ripped his coat — the white filling from the jacket was all over.”
The owner never disciplined the dog, which was leashed at the time.
“He didn’t apologize for it or anything,” Cevantes said. “He just let his dog do it.”
Just before the Saturday killing, the alleged dog murderer sicced his three terrier mutts on Eli and his owner named Brian, around 8:30 p.m. Brian told The Post that he’d just chastised the reckless dogwalker for letting his pups snap at Brian’s other pup, a tiny 17-year-old miniature pinscher named Sadie.
The dogs got into it — as did the owners — and the leashes tangled together. That’s when the man allegedly whipped out a switchblade and knifed Eli in the flank.
Brian — who declined to give his last name for fear of retribution — told The Post on Sunday that he heard Eli cry when the brute lashed out.
“My dog never stood up again,” Brian said.
Dramatic video taken by a witness showed Brian screaming, “You killed my dog, you piece of s—t!” as the heartless attacker fled with his own pups.
Brian said he later had to put poor Eli down.
On Monday, a still-rattled Brian told The Post that he’d spoken to police detectives that morning about the case.
Cops are canvassing cameras that might have caught the violence, he said. Meanwhile, he’s been wracked with guilt because he couldn’t save his pup from the knife-wielding thug.
“It’s starting to hit me … I froze. I feel guilty that I didn’t do something while my dog was down,” Brian said. “People already asked my wife where ‘the big one’ is, and she doesn’t want to tell them.”
The callous attacker, seen wearing an orange hat, gray shirt and blue jeans, had not been caught by Monday morning.
Other dog walkers — many of whom knew Brian and Eli — were in shock over the attack.
“Brian walks his dogs on a regular, he don’t bother anybody,” said a woman named Jessie who’s lived in the neighborhood for a decade.
“Everyone knows who he is and who his dogs are … the dog was old, and he didn’t bother anybody,” she continued. “So I don’t know what the heck would make that person do that.”
Meanwhile, one of Brian’s friends said he is seriously distraught over the attack. The terrified dog owner admitted he was keeping a machete by his door out of fear of what his dog’s killer could do next.
“He’s not in the best state of mind right now,” Daniel Lewis told The Post Monday. “He’s depressed … he had that dog for a long time. He’s never been like this before.”
Other dog walkers backed up the stories about the wild pit bulls and their brutal owner.
Alan Alexander said he stays away from them because he noticed the male’s ears are cropped low.
“I always avoided the guy because I didn’t like that he cut his dog’s ears — and only the male dog’s,” Alexander said.
Another dogwalker, George Keller, said the man is normally standoffish to others and lackadaisical when it comes to watching his pups.
“He seems like the type of person you would not want to approach,” Keller said. “Most of the dog people here, we all know each other and we’re all friendly with one another. He didn’t seem like that type at all.”
“I always kept my dogs away from him — always,” said Keller, who walks his Shih Tzu two or three times a day.
He’d definitely call 911 if he saw the stabber in Central Park again, he added.
“He doesn’t need to be in here,” Keller said. “Can you imagine? If he can do that to a dog, there’s no telling what he would do to a human being.”
