Victim and heroes in dog attack get special treatment from strangers

Three friends driving by an East Pennsauken park on Valentine’s Day afternoon had no clue they were in the right place at the right time.

They saw a girl who appeared to be playing with a dog in Madison Park, but when they got closer they realized a pit bull was attacking and mauling the screaming child. The three buddies stopped, jumped out of their car and after a fierce struggle with the animal, rescued the bleeding girl and drove her to her aunt’s house around the corner.

The girl, 9-year-old Toni Rivera, spent a night at Cooper University Hospital following the attack.

For heroically saving the girl without regard for their own safety, the three good Samaritans were hosted at a Philadelphia 76ers game and dinner at a VIP reception area Monday night by a Cherry Hill businessman whose company is no stranger to good deeds, buying and delivering food to hundreds of needy families during the now two-year coronavirus pandemic.

There is even more praise awaiting the three rescuers. At its monthly meeting Thursday night the Pennsauken Township Committee also will honor the heroic trio — Billy Jackson, 18, and Jamel Alvarez, 17, both of Pennsauken, and Jason Marte,19, of Camden.

"They are three of the nicest men — amazing and real heroes — and I wanted to do something special for them,” said Chris Bruner, American Construction president who along with his business partner took the three to the VIP area and dinner at the Wells Fargo Center before the game there with business partner Greg Dobkin.

His Cherry Hill company also presented a $1,000 check to mother Erika Rivera for Diaz, who as of Wednesday had not returned to her third grade class at Benjamin Franklin Elementary School in Pennsauken.

Bruner said he was able to contact the men after the girl's mother posted a plea on the Facebook community page Pennsauken Talks to learn their identities so she could thank them.

"They saved the girl's life, got her to safety and did not wait around to give their names or for others to thank them," Bruner noted.

"I told them I wanted them to enjoy themselves at the 76ers game siting up close. They kept saying 'thank you, thank you,' but I told them, 'No. Thank you for what you did.'"

"We really enjoyed the game experience, and we're grateful to Chris and his partner for what they did for us. We really appreciated it," said Jackson.

Jackson, who suffered a bite to his leg during the rescue, said he tried to wrestle the girl away from the dog while his friends tried to beat the dog away with beach chairs from the car trunk.

"There was no time to call the police so we decided we had to help her. After we dropped her off to her aunt, we went back to the park. The police were there ... someone had chained the dog to the fence and the dog owner showed up and took the dog away," Jackson recalled.

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Both Jackson and Marte are Camden County College students. They and Jamel have since visited Toni since the attack and brought her balloons and other presents.

Meanwhile, the dog owner was charged with municipal summons for having an unlicensed dog not registered in Pennsauken, a potentially dangerous dog and a dog running loose.

Rivera said the outpouring for the three men and for her daughter has been wonderful and heartwarming. Her daughter calls the three her "superheroes."

"It was so nice of Chris (Bruner) and his wife to give us this money for medical expenses or to spend on Toni. I told my daughter they have made a little girl a little richer," Rivera said Tuesday night.

Toni's school, teacher and classmates have showered her with gifts and cards.

"Strangers from Riverton dropped off a care package and the Penn Queen Diner is also doing something for us," said an overwhelmed Rivera, who thanked family, friends and those strangers who have helped her family.

"Toni is doing OK from the many still healing bites and scratches on her chest, back, arms and legs and from the stitches on a deep elbow bite, but she is suffering from the emotional trauma, so I am seeking counseling that the hospital recommended," explained the mom, who has three other daughters.

"My daughter was afraid to have the three boys take her back to our house that day because the dog lives across from us, so she asked them to take her to her aunt's house. When I got the call I drove there and went crazy over what happened to my daughter."

Pennsauken Mayor Jessica Rafeh said the township could not be more proud of the three local heroes.

"When we think of heroes, we automatically go to our first responders or to the costumed characters we see in the movies, but these young men are just regular people who were at the right place at the right time,,,and rose to the occasion."

Carol Comegno loves telling stories about South Jersey life, history and military veterans for the Courier Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. If you have a story to share, call her at 856-486-2473 or email ccomegno@gannettnj.com.

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This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Heroes rewarded for saving girl from pit bull as owner faces charges