An apology was issued by the New York City Police Department (NYPD) to a dog owner who called in to report a man who beat her dog to death last week. The NYPD issued a public apology this week to Jessica Chrustic, 41, during a council meeting, for their lackluster response to her call after the cops took 40 minutes to respond and were shrugged off by cops she tried to flag down.
According to New York Daily News, during the virtual council meeting, NYPD Capt. Frantz Souffrant said that upon review of the officers' body cameras, he admitted that the response to her call was not what he would have liked. Chrustic laid it heavy on the NYPD 78th precinct captain that he and his officers should be ashamed of their response time. She had repeatedly called 911 but was not able to get an officer to respond for nearly an hour.
“Why did it take 40 minutes from that moment, not only for the police to not roll down the window, not only for that car not to respond but for no one to respond?”
Speechless from Chrustic’s remarks, Souffrant could only reply, "The only thing I can say is I’m sorry.”
On Aug. 3, a man assaulted Chrustic which left her with minor injuries but her dog, Moose, was severely beaten and died several days later despite undergoing surgery to treat his injuries. Amongst neighbors in the community of Prospect Park, the death of Moose raised issues on safety, justice, compassion and how the city regarded those who are mentally ill.
Since the assault, Chrustic and other members of the community began to track the suspect after a friend alerted her that she spotted the man who attacked her and killed her dog. Chrustic followed the trail armed with nothing but pepper spray. She tracked the man until the suspect turned about and chased her. Based on her accounts, she had approached officers sitting in a marked police car in the park and tried to get their attention, but she was waved away. The woman claimed to have been traumatized once again after she was chased by the man last Friday.
Chrustic has called on New York City Mayor Eric Adams to crunch on the NYPD as no arrests have been made since. Souffrant said the case remains to be an open investigation.
