A Manhattan pizzeria worker was viciously mauled by a customer’s pit bull after he fought the owner about having the dog in the shop late Monday, cops and sources said. The 50-year-old worker at Roma Pizzeria was clinging to life Tuesday as the pit bull’s owner Tyshaun Watson, 35, was slapped with an attempted murder charge after pummeling the employee, cops said. The victim was inside Roma Pizzeria on Fifth Avenue near East 19th Street when Watson walked in with his dog, cops and sources said.
The two men got into a heated argument over the dog before Watson flew into a rage, kicking and punching the worker, cops and sources said. That’s when the pit bull joined the melee, biting the employee multiple times, cops said. The victim was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition, cops said.
He was intubated and unconscious Tuesday morning, sources said. Watson was charged with attempted murder and assault with attempt to cause disfigurement or dismemberment, police said. The New Jersey man has only one prior arrest in the Big Apple — for criminal possession of stolen property in 2008, sources said.
Timmy Moha, 28, who has worked at the pizzeria for about a year, told The Post he believes the victim staffed the shop with one other man Monday night. “I haven’t spoken to him [but] I know he’s hooked up to machines,” Moha said. “From what I heard he’s doing better, he’s doing good.
” Though the stop is located on the Big Apple’s iconic Fifth Avenue — across the street from luxury clothing and jewelry stores — he said safety has become a concern in the neighborhood at night. “You know it’s Fifth Avenue, it’s a nice area, but the city is not as safe even here,” he said. “Around the block there’s robberies and such.
Especially at night, it’s not as safe.” But things have never escalated to the level of Monday night’s violence, he noted. “We’ve never fought people, never had to fight people,” Moha said.
Stephen Sonkin, who lives right next to the shop, called the incident “terrible.” “They’re really nice guys that work there,” Sonkin said. “I know the ownership too.
I have a space upstairs and I bump into them a lot. Just really surprised.” “I mean it’s Fifth Avenue, right?” he added.
“So I feel like when I walk down here everyone’s very civilized and I never really see many pit bulls walking down the street. So it’s definitely shocking to me.”.
