Subway pit-bull arrest
The pit bull owner whose pooch chomped down on a subway rider’s shoe was charged with assault Thursday — but he blamed the victim and told cops his pooch is a service dog.
“She attacked me first. You will see,” said Ruben Roncallo, 53, of Brownsville, as he was led out of the Manhattan Transit Robbery Division. “It was on a leash.”
Roncallo and his dog were on a No. 4 train at the Wall Street Station at around 4:25 p.m. last Friday when the dog clamped its jaws on the sttraphanger’s shoe and thrashed its head wildly.
A video, which went viral this week, shows other riders screaming at Roncallo to command the dog to let go — but he doesn’t appear to do much to help.
He was charged with assault and reckless endangerment, police said.
Cops said the pit bull is, in fact, a service dog, but would not provide further details.
Roncallo and his dog have long been a nuisance, according to a police source who dealt with 311 complaints about him.
“He was notorious amongst his neighbors. We had to warn him multiple times about the crazy dog,” the source said.
“Every time we went over there, we would have to deal with that dog.”
Police said the animal is in the care of Roncallo’s family.
He was awaiting arraignment in Manhattan Criminal court Thursday evening.
MTA Chairman Joe Lhota encouraged straphangers to speak up if they see non-service dogs not properly enclosed in a carrier while on mass transit.