What kind of person would physically harm a stranger’s innocent dog? Unfortunately, quite a few Upper East Side dog owners have had encounters with these people, and their preferred method of attack seems to be a swift, unexpected kick.
Some of the disturbing incidents we’ve reported on include the time a man kicked a 12 pound dog while walking his kid to school; the time a confrontation between two men led one of them to kick his opponent’s dog in the air; and the time a man randomly kicked an 8-month old Havanese on First Avenue.
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The most recent example reportedly took place on Tuesday morning – right after Upper East Sider Charles Panoff had taken his English Bulldog puppy to the vet. It was a bit past 11 a.m., and Panoff says was standing in front of 430 East 86th Street (between York and First avenues) with four-and-a-half-month-old Astor.
That’s when he says a woman walking by swung her bag at the dog, causing her to yelp and fall over, Panoff tells us.
The disbelieving dog owner and several witnesses yelled at her, but she just continued walking as if nothing had happened. Panoff grabbed Astor and caught up to the assailant on 86th and First Ave., as he had some obvious questions. “What? No I didn’t. Get away from me,” the woman said.
Consider this a heads up for both UES and UWS dog owners.
One witness approached a police officer who was stationed nearby, at which point, the woman began to flee. Panoff then held onto her bag to prevent her from leaving.
“I grabbed the handle of her bag to keep her there, as I wasn’t going to [physically] restrain an older woman, and she pulls it away, ripping the handles, and starts punching me in the face repeatedly,” Panoff reported in a Nextdoor post, adding that “She then just calmly walks across the street.”
The police caught up to her and she denied any wrongdoing while calling Panoff a liar, even though several witnesses were present to vouch for him.
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Panoff recounts the officers being a bit unclear about how to handle the situation, telling us they had to do a Google search and call the ASPCA to determine whether the woman’s attack on the dog could actually be considered animal cruelty since Astor didn’t appear to be injured. And even though Panoff says he was punched in the face (also noting that the woman had caused damage to his glasses), the officers only wrote up a harassment complaint since he didn’t want to go to the hospital and they didn’t see any injuries.
“…a lieutenant shows up and looks at my puppy, looks at my face and says ‘Just harassment, they look ok to me.’ He couldn’t have cared any less,” wrote Panoff, who shared a photo of his post-attack face along with his Nextdoor post.
Panoff later visited a CityMD and discovered he had a facial contusion, which he was told will most likely elevate the woman’s charge of harassment to assault in the third degree. An officer involved in the case told East Side Feed that charges are currently pending.
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After he shared his story on Nextdoor, a neighbor recognized the suspect, leading the police to take her identification.
“I will say, for a 71-year-old lady, she has a hell of a right hook,” Panoff said. (The NYPD have not revealed her identity, but Panoff overheard her when they asked for her age.)
“Thankfully Astor, my puppy, is ok. I took her back to the vet and they said it seems she is just bruised a bit but no real injuries.”
On March 3rd 2024 Mr. Francois Macheras unprovoked kicked my 7 pound dog on west 58th st entrance of the Essex House Marriott Hotel. The police reluctantly filled out a report but nothing much else. The veterinarian bill was $1113.14 and I send a letter to Mr. Macheras demanding reimbursement which the animal abuser ignored! The demanded deadline past and I am now in process with small claims court for full reimbursement . I have 2 witnesses, a photo of the assailant, a police report and a bill from my vet.
This guy is notorious on the upper east side. He is very mentally ill and regularly has these run ins around the neighborhood where he is “the victim” He’s a deadbeat and is likely broke. This is probably a scheme to try to get money from the woman or start a scam go fund me.
He is a neighbor. Definitely not mentally ill. Works. Moreover, there were witnesses to the attack…duh.
Police didn’t “take the woman’s identification” at the scene, but only after a Nextdoor posting of the incident? And what did she have in the Zabar’s bag, a fruitcake?