A mother and her 5-year-old daughter were attacked by a coyote Sunday afternoon while playing at a park.
Kasey King-Petrellese and her children were at a Westchester park when a coyote came out of nowhere and charged at her daughter, Natalia Petrellese, according to WNBC.
"I'm telling you it was like a cheetah," King-Petrellese told WNBC. "I took my foot and I kicked him as hard as I could in his face, which knocked him to the ground and he stumbled a little. When he got up he swung over to my daughter's side and bit her arm."
As she tried to fight off the animal, an off-duty police officer came over to help.
"I just mounted it and I had my hands around its neck," Irvington police Officer Arcangelo Liberatore told WNBC. "I just sat and tried to squeeze the life out of it, but it was pretty resilient."
The officer sat on the animal to keep it contained until Mount Pleasant police arrived and shot it, according to WNBC.
Natalia was taken to the hospital, where she was given a rabies shot, stitches and antibiotics. Her 3-year-old brother was not injured.
County officials said they have had several coyote sightings but never heard of anyone being attacked.
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