Man Who Fatally Beat BK Dog Still Roams Prospect Park, Locals Say

PROSPECT PARK, BROOKLYN — The stick-wielding man who killed a beloved dog in an unprovoked attack still roams Prospect Park, according to scared local pup owners who've laid eyes on him since.

Two weeks after Moose the dog suffered a beating that ultimately claimed his life, owner Jessica Chrustic says police have yet to arrest the suspect park-goers told Patch they've seen lurking in the park.

"People are pretty upset about it," fellow dog owner Liz Watson told Patch Friday morning. "I know a ton of people who've seen him, so I guess I don't know why there hasn't been any action taken."

Watson was especially surprised because she's recently seen cops reduce a woman to tears for selling treats in the park, the dog owner told Patch.

"You're not detaining someone who's actually violent," Watson said. “Why are you detaining people who are selling ice cream and balloons?"

Police confirmed receipt of Patch's request for comment, sent Thursday, but had not provided a response as of Friday afternoon.

Chrustic has been working with police since the attack unfolded near the park's Picnic House on Aug. 3 because she's concerned about the safety of fellow dog owners, she told Patch.

“We have one person in the park that has consistently, to multiple people, terrorized them and their dogs,” Chrustic said.

“It’s a safe space and the community should feel safe in it. One person shouldn’t be allowed to make it feel unsafe.”

The man, unprovoked, threw a container of urine, struck both Chrustic and Moose with a stick, then ran away, Chrustic said.

Chrustic gave a description to police, who arrived moments later at the summons of a good Samaritan, and pointed out the direction in which the man had run, she said.

But police did not find the man, and Chrustic told Patch she went to the 78th Precinct a week later, only to learn a report had never been filed.

Chrustic's online plea for funds — to pay for Moose's two expensive emergency surgeries — went viral and locals began sharing stories and images of a man they say has menaced park-goers before.

Chrustic has temporarily left the city after the traumatic chain of events, but she's been speaking to police and sending them photos, shared with her by fellow park-goers, of the man she says attacked her.

Those images are not being published by Patch because the man depicted — who has dreadlocks, wears dark clothes with a hoodie and carries a large stick and bag over his shoulder — has not been confirmed as a suspect by police.

The NYPD spotted a person matching the photo in the park on Thursday, but didn't make an arrest, Chrustic said.

"They said unless I was in the car, they couldn’t make an arrest,” she said, adding she offered to scramble back to the city. “I question why the onus is on the victim."

Meanwhile, park-goers who've heard about the attacks are taking extra precautions to keep themselves and their animals safe.

Dog owner Ciara McGowan told Patch she knows the man and saw him in the park earlier in the week.

"I had my dog on a leash, so I felt a bit more comfortable," McGowan said. "But I definitely took the next path or the next exit."

Sally Illig, another dog owner, likewise found the situation disturbing, especially since other people had run-ins with the man.

"I was surprised that he wasn't caught," she said. "It kind of made me worry, just because I'm a young woman who walks usually by myself with a dog."