On a January afternoon in Staten Island, a 59-year-old man named Frank Monte lost his life to a pit bull named Bean at a home he did not live in — a death that raises enduring questions about the boundaries of human responsibility toward animals and toward one another. The dog, known by neighbors for a pattern of aggression, now sits in city custody while investigators search for an owner who may have shaped, and then abandoned, the conditions that led to this moment. Frank Monte's death is not only a tragedy of violence but a reckoning with the quiet failures — of oversight, of care, of accou
Staten Island Man Killed in Pit Bull Attack; Dog Had History of Violence
A 59-year-old man, Frank Monte, was killed in the attack, sustaining fatal bite wounds to his arms and thighs.
This dog was abused because the people who lived there did not want this dog
Mark
So Frank Monte wasn't living there. Do we know why he was at that house on New Dorp Lane?
Mimi
The reporting doesn't say. He was there when the attack happened, but the source material doesn't explain the connection or the reason for his visit.
Luke
That's a real gap. Was he a friend, a contractor, a stranger? The story can't tell us, which means we're missing context for how the attack actually unfolded.
Mark
The neighbors seem pretty clear that Bean had a violent history. How many incidents are we talking about?
Mimi
Robert Lamantia said the dog bit his friend over five times. Joseph Dantuono had his own encounter where Bean charged at him from behind the fence. And there's the anonymous neighbor's account of the dog being abused and kicked out of the house.
Luke
But those are anecdotes from neighbors, not an official record. We don't know if animal control had documented complaints, if there were prior reports filed, or if this was just neighborhood talk.
Mark
The owner is still being searched for. Does that seem unusual?
Mimi
It does suggest the owner wasn't immediately available or cooperative when police arrived. The dog was tranquilized and taken into custody, but the person responsible hasn't been located yet.
Luke
Or they were there but haven't been identified yet. The reporting says police are "searching for" the owner, but it doesn't clarify whether that means they don't know who it is or they know who it is and can't find them. Those are very different situations.
Mark
What about the abuse angle? Does that change how we think about what happened?
Mimi
The neighbor's account suggests Bean may have been mistreated, which could explain some of the aggression. But it's also just one person's observation from outside the home.
Luke
And it raises a question the story doesn't answer: if neighbors witnessed abuse, why wasn't animal control called before someone died? That's not a criticism of the reporting—it's a real question the investigation should address.
El Pulso
- A man is dead from bite wounds sustained during a pit bull attack at a Staten Island home, and the full circumstances of how it began remain under active investigation.
- Neighbors had long feared Bean, with one man reporting the dog had bitten his friend more than five times across separate incidents and another describing the animal lunging at him with terrifying force on the very day of the fatal attack.
- A competing account from an anonymous neighbor complicates the picture — she alleges Bean was abused and unwanted by its owners, suggesting the dog's violence may have been shaped by mistreatment rather than nature alone.
- Police, who had visited the address before for unrelated drug offenses, tranquilized Bean and transferred the animal to New York City's Center for Animal Care and Control, where it remains in custody.
- Investigators are now searching for the dog's owner to determine whether criminal charges are warranted, leaving justice — and a community's sense of safety — suspended in uncertainty.
On a January afternoon in Staten Island, a 59-year-old man named Frank Monte lost his life to a pit bull named Bean at a home he did not live in — a death that raises enduring questions about the boundaries of human responsibility toward animals and toward one another. The dog, known by neighbors for a pattern of aggression, now sits in city custody while investigators search for an owner who may have shaped, and then abandoned, the conditions that led to this moment. Frank Monte's death is not only a tragedy of violence but a reckoning with the quiet failures — of oversight, of care, of accountability — that accumulate long before a crisis arrives.
On the afternoon of January 18, police in Staten Island arrived at a home on New Dorp Lane to find Frank Monte, 59, dead from bite wounds to his arms and thighs. The pit bull responsible, a dog named Bean, had already been secured by the time investigators reached the scene. Monte was not a resident of the home, and several others were present when the attack occurred — though exactly how it unfolded remains part of an ongoing NYPD investigation.
For neighbors, Bean's violence came as no surprise. Robert Lamantia told local news the dog had bitten his friend on more than five separate occasions. Joseph Dantuono described walking past the property on the day of the attack when Bean hurled itself at the fence with the force of a large predator — a moment that shook him deeply. The dog's reputation in the area had grown to the point where residents knew to keep their distance.
Not everyone saw Bean as simply dangerous. An anonymous neighbor suggested the dog had itself been mistreated — describing a scene in which the owners kicked Bean out of the house, sending the animal running down the street while its owner gave chase barefoot. "This dog was abused because the people who lived there did not want this dog," she said. Whether that abuse fueled Bean's aggression or only deepened an existing problem remains an open question.
Officers tranquilized Bean following the fatal attack and transferred the animal to New York City's Center for Animal Care and Control, which confirmed it has custody and is treating the matter as an active investigation. As police work to locate the dog's owner and weigh possible criminal charges, the case leaves a neighborhood grappling with how a dog so visibly dangerous was allowed to remain among them for so long.
On a Sunday afternoon in mid-January, police in Staten Island responded to a call that would end in death. Around 4 p.m. on January 18, officers arrived at a home on New Dorp Lane to find a 59-year-old man named Frank Monte dead from bite wounds to his arms and thighs. Emergency medical services confirmed he was gone at the scene. The pit bull responsible, a dog named Bean, had been secured by the time investigators arrived.
Monte did not live at the residence where he was attacked. Several people were present in the home when the mauling occurred, though the exact circumstances of how the attack began remain part of the ongoing police investigation. The NYPD has confirmed the incident and is now working to locate the dog's owner to determine what criminal charges, if any, might apply.
Neighbors painted a picture of Bean as a dangerous animal with a documented pattern of aggression. Robert Lamantia told local news that the dog had bitten his friend more than five times in separate incidents. Joseph Dantuono described a moment when he was walking past the property on the day of the attack and Bean lunged at him from behind the fence with such force that he compared it to a large predator hurling itself at him. The dog's behavior had apparently escalated to the point where residents in the area knew to be wary.
One anonymous neighbor offered a different lens on Bean's violence, suggesting the dog itself had been a victim. She described witnessing the owners kick the animal out of the house, after which it ran down the street while its owner chased after it barefoot. "This dog was abused because the people who lived there did not want this dog," she said. Whether abuse contributed to Bean's aggression or simply compounded an existing problem remains unclear.
The police had visited the New Dorp Lane address before, though those prior visits were related to unrelated drug offenses. After the fatal attack, officers tranquilized Bean and transferred the dog to the Center for Animal Care and Control of New York City. The agency confirmed it now has custody of the animal and described the situation as an active investigation. As authorities search for the owner and weigh potential charges, Bean remains in the facility's care while questions linger about how a dog with such a visible history of violence was allowed to remain in a residential neighborhood.
Citas Notables
It was kinda like a tiger jumping at me— Joseph Dantuono, describing the pit bull charging at him from behind the fence
This dog was abused because the people who lived there did not want this dog— Anonymous neighbor, describing witnessing the dog being kicked out of the house
Quieres la nota completa?
Lee el original en People.com ↗
Health & Medicine