Man defending his dog gets 4 fingers chopped off in machete attack
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NEW YORK (WCBS) — A Bronx man hospitalized since Friday has had some of his fingers reattached after police say they were sliced off by a machete-wielding man.
The victim’s family is desperate for the suspect in the attack to be found and brought to justice.
Tayquon Young, 34, is recovering at Bellevue Hospital after having four fingers chopped off. Police say at the time of the attack the victim and the suspect each had a dog with them. Their meeting was captured on video from a deli sidewalk security camera on Southern Boulevard in the West Farms section of the borough.
The footage shows a brief flash of the 2-foot blade used on Young’s left hand.
“He’s a lefty. He does everything with that hand,” said Tashemia Young, the victim’s aunt. “He’s angry. He’s hurt. He feels unsafe. They were able to find three of the fingers. He just couldn’t find the fourth finger.”
Tashemia Young said the gruesome injury was the result of an argument over dogs. Police said the suspect’s animal was unleashed and was up close to Tayquon Young’s 4-year-old dog, Chanel.
“He put up his hand from the man trying to decapitate the dog, so with him grabbing the blade and stopping the man from decapitated the dog he lost his fingers in the process,” Tashemia Young said.
Tayquon Young, an MTA maintenance worker, will need additional medical procedures and therapy, his family said, adding he is preparing to go back into surgery to improve blood flow to his reattached fingers.
Police said the suspect ran away. He is described as around 40-50 years old, 5-foot-10 and 180 pounds, with a dark complexion, and was last seen wearing a tan-colored hat, pants and boots, a gray hoodie and a green vest.
“This man is still on the loose. We don’t know if this man wants to circle back around and be like you keep talking about me, I can finish it,” Tashemia Young said. “And he’s walking around here with a machete inside his pants. How are you not able to find this person?”
Anyone with any information is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit a tip via their website or via DM on X, @NYPDTips. All calls are kept confidential.
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