Man honored for helping woman in pit bull attack Joseph Hayes cited as hero for efforts to help neighbor BY MICHAEL ACKER Staff Writer MICHAEL ACKER Cheryl Napolitano applauds as Joseph Hayes is presented with a proclamation from Mayor Kennedy O'Brien during Monday's Borough Council meeting. SAYREVILLE - Borough officials and police on Monday honored a resident who came to the aid of a neighbor while she was being attacked by a pit bull. Joseph Hayes, 51, was recognized as a hero at borough hall Monday, as an au- dience of Sayreville residents looked on. Standing beside Hayes was Cheryl Napolitano, the victim of the attack, as Mayor Kennedy O'Brien and police Officer Scott Poetsch read proclamations recognizing him for his kindness and quick thinking in an emergency situation. Napolitano, 44, was walking her poodle on Thomas Street at 6:22 p.m. Aug. 31 when a 75- to 100-pound mixed-breed pit bull reportedly attacked them. Hayes witnessed the attack and went to their aid. "He didn't even know me," Napolitano said. "I knew him only by waving, so for him to do this is just amazing." Napolitano, Hayes and the poodle all sustained injuries in the attack before the pit bull fled. Napolitano suffered wounds to her neck, face and hands, while her dog sustained a neck injury and a bite wound to the stomach. Hayes was bitten on the chin. The pit bull was found to belong to a 61-year-old neighbor on Thomas Street. It was quarantined by the borough and remains confined at the Sayrebrook Pet Adoption Center on Main Street, according to John Dowd, health educator and risk communicator with the Middlesex County Public Health Department. He said the dog will remain confined there until the owner, Witold Gieszczynski, goes to court Oct. 23 on charges related to the incident. The health department issued four summonses to the owner of the pit bull, Dowd said. Two are violations of Sayreville municipal code for having a dog running at large and for not having a dog license. The other two charges are related to New Jersey state statutes - having a potentially dangerous dog and causing bodily injury in an unprovoked attack on a person and on a domestic dog. Napolitano said the pit bull bit another neighbor's dog in an incident prior to the attack on her, but said the neighbor did not report the incident to police. Napolitano said she experienced whiplash during the incident, sustained a pinched nerve in her back, and sprained her right arm when she fell to the ground. "I'm paying my medical bills," Napolitano said. "I have [physical] therapy I go to three times a week for my neck and my shoulder and my back. My dog, thank God he made it, his surgery came through. The bills are a little over two thousand [dollars]. I had an MRI, X-rays done." "I'm not the same," Napolitano added. Borough Councilman Rory Zach referred to Hayes as a friend at Monday's council meeting, citing his volunteerism with the Madison Park Volunteer Fire Company on Cheesequake Road in Parlin. "Nobody is more deserving of the honor being bestowed," Zach said. "He has been a volunteer at Madison Park for as long as I've known him." Napolitano was pleased with the borough's honoring of Hayes. "I thought it was wonderful," Napolitano said. "I'm happy that he was recognized … He saved my life." "He's a wonderful guy," she said. "I call him my hero."