Tuesday, May 31,2005

Dix Hills man held in wife-beating, keeping leopards

BY KEIKO MORRIS AND CHRISTINE ARMARIO
STAFF WRITERS

May 31, 2005

Anastasia Barone remembered the thick padlocked chain around her neck, her husband's steel-toed boot striking her over and over in the face, and then the dizziness that overcame her as she slowly slipped into unconsciousness on the tile floor of her Dix Hills basement.

For nearly six hours, Barone's husband, Anthony, kept her bound to the bottom of a spiral staircase with an inch-thick, padlocked chain, as their 8-year-old son tried to help his mother, she said. In the next room, separated only by unlocked, wooden sliding doors, were two 50-pound leopard cubs her husband had bought about six months ago.

That was May 20. On Sunday, more than a week after the alleged attack, and after Anastasia Barone had returned home to her husband, police responded to a 911 call reporting a domestic dispute at their home and arrested him.

Anthony Barone, 34, of 601 Caledonia Rd., was caught in a nearby wooded area Sunday evening after his wife recounted the May 20 episode to police. He was charged with first-degree unlawful imprisonment, second-degree assault and first-degree reckless endangerment for allowing the leopards to come in contact with their four children, police said.

"It was very scary because I thought I was going to die," said Barone, tearfully describing the May 20 assault to reporters. Bluish-purple bruises underlined her eyes and swollen nose, which was broken in the beating, police say. She said there had been other instances of abuse, but nothing as violent as the May 20 attack. Police said Anthony Barone had prior arrests for drugs and weapons possession, but information about whether any resulted in convictions was not available Monday.

It was unclear whether Anastasia Barone or her aunt, who lives with the family, called police on Sunday.

Anthony Barone, who runs Tony's Tattoos Ink. in Lynbrook, was being held on $500,000 bail following his arraignment Monday. Three of their children, ages 2, 4, 7 were upstairs at the time of the May 20 alleged beating, while the oldest was at her side trying to help her, Anastasia Barone said.

Later that day, he took his bloodied wife to the tattoo parlor, and kept her chained to a toilet there until he felt she was no longer likely to call police, authorities said.

Barone said her husband didn't threaten her with the leopards during the beating and that, generally, the animals were not allowed to roam the house freely. But she said they did "create a dangerous environment."

Suffolk County SPCA officers and Huntington animal control agents removed the animals from the feces-filled, windowless, basement room, with inadequate ventilation, said Roy Gross, chief of Suffolk County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Gross said the leopards are listed as endangered and that a new state law bans keeping such wild animals as pets.

At full size, the male leopard could grow between 80 and 150 pounds and the female between 60 and 100 pounds, Gross said. They are capable of taking down other animals twice their size, he added.

"These animals are very capable of injuring and killing someone," Gross said. ". . . They are not to be domesticated, and Siegfried and Roy is a perfect example of that."

Anthony Barone is believed to have purchased the animals from someone in Manhattan and was in the process of buying two black leopards, Gross said.

Investigators are still deciding whether to bring more charges against Anthony Barone, he said. The animals are being kept at an undisclosed location where they will be evaluated by a veterinarian.

The existence of the leopards in her home came as a surprise to Anastasia Barone, who returned to their Dix Hills home in April after a separation. She said the couple had been apart off and on over the past year and that she had twice taken two of her boys, ages 2 and 8, to Florida to stay with her mother. She returned at the end of April in an attempt to gain custody of her 4-year-old boy and 7-year-old girl. All the children are now in their mother's custody.

"For me," she said, "it's not over until I know my children aren't going to be taken away from me."

Friday, June 3,2005

Cruelty charges for leopards' keeper

BY JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER
STAFF WRITER

June 3, 2005

The Dix Hills man described by authorities as a wife beater and leopard keeper will be charged with felony animal cruelty, they said yesterday, after several animal carcasses and sickly dogs were found in his home.

The charge is expected to be filed within several days, said Roy Gross, chief of the Suffolk County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Anthony Barone, 34, has already been charged with first-degree unlawful imprisonment, second-degree assault and first-degree reckless endangerment for allegedly beating his wife, Anastasia Barone, on May 20 and for allowing the two leopard cubs to come in contact with their children, ages 2, 4, 7 and 8.

During a search of the Caledonia Road home earlier this week, Suffolk County SPCA officials found a skinned Rottweiler decaying in the garage. Gross said Barone's wife told officials he was planning to boil the dog's bones to add to his collection, which included various animal skins.

In a freezer, authorities found a dead lynx that Barone's wife told them may have strangled itself on a chain after it mauled one of the couple's four children around Christmas, Gross said. "The freezer wasn't even plugged in," he added.

Found alive - but barely - was a Doberman pinscher, crammed into a small crate. "It was severely emaciated," Gross said. "And the dead dog was nearby." The Doberman was being evaluated by a veterinarian yesterday, along with two mastiffs found in the home. "This is one of the most bizarre cases that I've ever seen," Gross said. The case, he said, has garnered worldwide attention.

Gross said he expects Barone, the owner of a Lynbrook tattoo parlor, to face numerous federal and state animal charges. Authorities could also charge whoever sold animals to Barone.

Neither his relatives nor his Legal Aid attorney could be reached for comment yesterday. He is being held in the Riverhead jail on $500,000 bail.

Meanwhile, the Suffolk County SPCA was trying to raise money to cover costs they've already incurred caring for the two male leopards. "We need support. They're very expensive to maintain," Gross said of the animals, which are being looked after in an undisclosed Suffolk location that is licensed to house exotic creatures.

"We got them out of that hellhole, but we'd like to see them live in as close to their natural environment," he said.

Gross asked that anyone interested in donating e-mail helptheleopards@scspca.us or helptheleopards@suffolkcountyspca.org. Any leftover money will be used to support the organization's programs, including their rabies clinic, Gross said.