Three cases that show why crime dog McGruff is not a pit bull

(Collage by Beth Clifton)

The victims include a pizza counter employee, a handcuffed child, a Dollar General clerk and two teenagers

NEW YORK CITY, CLEVELAND, NEW CASTLE, Delaware––Zakaria El Sherief, 47, a victim of an assault and pit bull attack and a counter worker at Roma Pizza in New York City’s Flatiron District, was last reported to be intubated, in a coma and in critical condition after a week at Bellevue Hospital.

Tyshaum Watson, 35, entered Roma Pizza with an unleashed pit bull and began to sit inside the restaurant at approximately 9:55 p.m. on August 19, 2024.

McGruff, the crime dog.

“The dog is not allowed in the dining area”

Zakaria El Sherief, an Egyptian immigrant who reportedly came to the U.S. to work while his wife and children lived in Italy, asked Watson to either put the pit bull on a leash or take him to an outdoor table.

Timmy Moha, 28, day manager of Pizza Roma, also an Egyptian, said: New York Post Reporters Kevin Sheehan, Kyle Schnitzer and Steve Janoski said: “Zach went back and said, 'I'm so sorry, but it's the law, there's nothing I can do – you're not allowed to let the dog in the dining area.'

“Watson then allegedly exploded, cursing and screaming as he followed El Sherief back to the cash register,” Sheehan, Schnitzer and Janoski said in a joint report.

“He started hitting Zack at the checkout and Zack fell to the ground,” Moha said.

“Then the dog started biting and attacking him.”

(Collage by Beth Clifton)

Pitbull drove kitchen worker back

“A kitchen worker tried to pull El Sherief away,” Sheehan, Schnitzer and Janoski wrote, “but the dog turned on him and chased him back into the kitchen, where he called the police.

Roma Pizza's surveillance camera reportedly captured Watson dragging Sherief outside in a chokehold, throwing him to the ground, punching him repeatedly, and then kicking him twice in the face.

“Watson’s pit bull joined in the attack,” apparently for the second time, “and brutally bit Sherief several times,” Arundhati Kumar reported for Our city on August 22, 2024.

“After the attack,” Sheehan, Schnitzer and Janoski continued, “Watson went back to the restaurant, sat down at a table and waited for the police.

(Collage by Beth Clifton)

“Staring at yourself in the mirror”

“He just stared at himself in the mirror,” Moha told the New York Post Reporter.

“He was just staring at himself and calming his dog. When the police came, he just raised both hands and stood up. He looked like he was drunk or under the influence of drugs.”

Sheehan, Schnitzer and Janoski added: “The police officers said he apologized to them in a bizarre way.”

Watson was arrested at the scene and charged with attempted second-degree murder and first- and second-degree assault. The attempted murder charge could be upgraded to murder if Sherief dies from his injuries.

If Watson is convicted, Kumar said, “he could face a mandatory prison sentence of at least five years and not more than 25 years.”

If convicted of murder, Watson could face life in prison.

(Collage by Beth Clifton)

Criminal records in Virginia

Watson “has a criminal record in Virginia and has been convicted three times for embezzlement, domestic violence and drunk driving,” Kumar learned.

Watson was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court and released on $250,000 bail or $500,000 surety., at the request of the prosecution, but not before Judge Simiyon Haniff expressed surprise that the prosecution had not requested that Watson be held without bail, given the severity of Sharief's injuries and the seriousness of the charges.

Tyshaum Watson with his pit bull Dior.
(Collage by Beth Clifton)

Who is Tyshaum Watson?

“Watson's attorney Kristin McAlpin testified that Watson “lives with his partner in Secaucus, New Jersey, and previously lived with his now 10-year-old son, whom he still supports,” Molly Crane-Newman and Ellen Moynihan summarized for the New York Daily News.

“Watson is employed as a senior sales manager for a Fifth Avenue hotel and has worked in the hospitality industry for five years,” Crane-Newman and Moynihan continued.

“He was fired from Apple at the height of the COVID pandemic and served for a decade as a chemical specialist in the National Guard,” said McAlpin, who added that Watson's arrests in Virginia were alcohol-related.

“I think alcohol may play a role in this case,” McAlpin said.

Crane-Newman and Moynihan noted: “Watson posted several videos on social media in the days before the attack showing him and his dog, a black pit bull named Dior, walking around New York.

Pitbull Dior was seized by the Animal Care Centers of New York City for a 10-day rabies quarantine.

Angelina Williams (right), Robert Michalski, Jr. (center) and Taylor Desiree Marvin-Brown (left). (Collage by Beth Clifton)

Child in handcuffs

Sherief was beaten and mauled to death approximately 29 hours after Ashland County, Ohio, sheriff's officials responded to a 911 call reporting that a child had been attacked by a pit bull at 5:06 p.m. on August 18, 2024, in Savannah, Ohio, a rural community southwest of Cleveland.

They found that a six-year-old boy was in serious condition after being bitten on the neck and ear by a pit bull that allegedly suffered the bites after his mother, 27-year-old Angelina Williams of Cleveland, and her boyfriend Taylor Desiree Marvin-Brown tied his hands and feet as punishment.

Both were charged with child endangerment and obstruction of justice.

(Collage by Beth Clifton)

Head-on collision

The pit bull's owner, 47-year-old Robert Michalski, who is reportedly related to Marvin-Brown, was charged with child endangerment and tampering with evidence after sheriff's officers found him and the pit bull “hiding in an alcove on the upper floor of the house” while executing a search warrant the following day.

Bail was set at $300,000 for Williams, $250,000 for Marvin-Brown and $150,000 for Michalski.

Michalski, who was living near Nova, Ohio at the time, had already come to police attention at around 10:19 p.m. on November 29, 2021, after his Honda Pilot reportedly “veered left-center into the path of a 2014 Ford Focus traveling eastbound, driven by Courtney A. Kovacs, 22, of West Salem, Ohio.”

Kovacs was killed. The driver of a third car involved in the pile-up was injured.

Veronica Coleman (left); Matthew Perez (right). (Collage by Beth Clifton)

Dollar-General

A more typical use of a pit bull in connection with crime came to light about an hour earlier, on August 18, 2024, at around 4:17 p.m. in New Castle, Delaware.

Delaware State Police arrested 23-year-old Matthew Perez and 27-year-old Veronica Coleman, both of New Castle.

According to the police report, “Perez and Coleman were banned from the store because of a previous shoplifting incident. When they were escorted outside, Perez became aggressive toward the store employee and threatened violence.”

As the employee attempted to escape the confrontation, “Perez pursued him on foot while Coleman followed in a black Buick sedan. Coleman then released a dog from the vehicle” which “began to attack the employee. Perez, armed with a large knife, continued to threaten the employee. Coleman also attempted to attack the employee with the vehicle.

(Collage by Beth Clifton)

He allegedly tried to run over teenagers

“A 12-year-old passerby who attempted to verbally intervene was threatened by Coleman, who drove the vehicle toward the child. The child was able to avoid a collision and witnessed the ongoing attack on the employee. A 15-year-old who was also in the parking lot was nearly struck by the vehicle.”

Perez was charged with possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony, aggravated menacing, terroristic threats, endangering the welfare of a child, resisting justice and disorderly conduct.

Coleman was charged with second-degree assault, first-degree reckless endangerment, two counts of aggravated menacing, terroristic threats, endangering the welfare of a child, reckless driving and trespassing.

(Collage by Beth Clifton)

87% of dogs used in crimes are pit bulls

While the reported use of dogs in the commission of alleged crimes three times within 48 hours is rare, the use of pit bulls in such cases is not uncommon.

In 53 of 61 crimes (87%) committed by ANIMALS 24-7 Since 2020, in which a dog was used as a weapon in the commission of a crime other than the subsequent dog attack itself and/or dog fighting, the dog was a pit bull.

Beth & Merritt Clifton with friends.

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