Former Secaucus Police Dog Involved In Clash With Other Dogs

SECAUCUS, NJ — Here is the latest update on the incident where a former Secaucus Police dog was involved in a clash with two smaller dogs and their owner in the north end of town Saturday afternoon.

The woman whose dogs and husband were involved posted her story on Facebook, so this incident is already widely known in town. However, here is the latest update as of Monday afternoon, from Mayor Mike Gonnelli:

Gonnelli said he and Secaucus Police Chief Dennis Miller spoke to the woman and her husband by phone Monday morning. He said this is currently being investigated by Secaucus Police Capt. Scott Coar, who is the town's certified Municipal Humane Law Enforcement Officer. He is the one who is legally required to investigate all dog attacks or dog bites that occur in town.

The Secaucus Police Department will then likely refer the matter to the Hudson County Prosecutor — in the interest of full transparency, said the mayor.

"I will assure the public that the dog owner, albeit a police officer, has not and will not receive special treatment, courtesy, or conversely additional repercussions, simply because of his chosen profession," Police Chief Dennis Miller said Monday afternoon. "The matter is under investigation and I will not speculate on it any further until I have all of the facts based on the evidence derived from the investigation. Once the investigation is complete I will issue another statement on the results."

"I really feel empathetic for this woman," said Mayor Gonnelli Monday afternoon. "I would be very upset too."

In her Facebook post, the woman, who goes by Facebook username Ashley Marie, said her husband and their two dogs were attacked Saturday by "a loose massive black German Shepherd." This took place at 1:33 p.m. on Paterson Plank Road near Franklin Street, she said.

It was a former Secaucus Police dog — named Strobe — that clashed with the two smaller dogs. Strobe is a German Shepherd and he was the first K-9 to join the Secaucus police force; he was purchased by the department in 2021. However, Strobe was only briefly a police dog. After his handler, Officer Vincent DeFazio, was promoted to sergeant, Strobe was retired from the Secaucus Police Department.

He is still owned by DeFazio, and is now considered a privately owned dog. DeFazio was out of town Saturday, said the mayor. He was in another state, and the officer's wife kept Strobe in their backyard, while she was home with their children.

However — the dog got out.

On Facebook, the woman said what she described as "an attack" lasted for "well over" 15-20 minutes, and that Strobe took "chunks" out of her one dog, which later required seven stitches. The dog fight was only broken up by neighbors who rushed to help.

The woman said Secaucus Police then "arrived and the dog jumped into the police vehicle."

She said then "four police officers arrived at my front door and refused to provide me with any information about the dog’s owner or the dog itself. They also refused to write a summons for the owner."

Secaucus Police told her she could file a police report, she said. She said then, at 10 o'clock Saturday night, Strobe's owner (DeFazio) "called my husband to say he was sorry to hear about the incident and didn’t want to ruin the holiday ... He also told me and my husband that he wasn’t in town and that his wife felt terrible but couldn’t do anything because she was home with her kids."

Secaucus Police confirmed the incident happened.

"On April 19 at approximately 1:33 p.m., the Secaucus Police Department received a call of an animal incident in the north end of town. Within a few minutes police officers responded to the area. It then became known a dog, who is privately owned by a member of the Secaucus Police Department, got loose from his residence and attacked another dog and the other dog’s owner."

Chief Miller said this woman's account does "not accurately depict the Secaucus Police Department’s response to the incident. Therefore, to provide the public with accurate facts of the Secaucus Police Department’s response, I issue the following statement:

"After a review of body-worn camera footage, the responding officers showed empathy and compassion to the individuals involved. The officers offered medical attention to the dog owner who declined ... The responding police officers did in fact offer an apology to the owners ... Additionally, the responding officers informed the couple that the attacking dog owner’s information would be contained in the police report, since the Secaucus Police Department does not provide the public with non-public information. While the Secaucus Police Department empathizes with the dog owners, summonses are not routinely issued to any animal owner without conducting a follow-up investigation by a certified Municipal Humane Law Enforcement Officer (MHLEO). The couple was informed at the time of the incident that the incident would be investigated by a Superior Officer of the Secaucus Police Department who is also a certified MHLEO (Coar). I already spoke with him this morning regarding the matter. Additionally, the couple was informed of their own right to sign a Town Ordinance violation or the right to pursue the matter civilly during the police response. While I understand that emotions are high and I offer my personal sympathy to the individuals involved, I ask everyone to remain calm while the investigation is completed, because the Secaucus Police Department is notorious for handling things properly."

This statement was signed by Secaucus Police Chief Miller.

The woman said she has photos of the injuries and she also has video surveillance. She did not respond when Patch asked to interview her about this.

Meet Strobe, Secaucus Police Dept.'s First Police Canine (May 2021)

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