Coyote spotted a few years ago in Coral Springs. Photo by Jay Kapelmaster
By: Saraana Jamraj
What started as a calm day in the park ended with a coyote chase and shots fired.
Timothy Marcus, 33, of Coral Springs, was at Three Mountains Park on Tuesday evening, when he noticed two men: Coral Springs residents Isiah Presendieu, 20, and Michael Principato, 18, preparing to jog up the park hills.
For a park that attracts joggers, this would be a regular occurrence—except, shortly after spotting them, Marcus noticed a coyote crouching down, staring at both Presendieu and Principato.
Before he could warn them, they began sprinting uphill, and the coyote started chasing them.
Marcus told police that’s when he ran towards them, yelling, “Watch out, there’s a coyote,” at which point both men observed the coyote in full pursuit of them.
They continued to run from the coyote and began making their way back downhill. Then, they split up, running in different directions.
The coyote followed Principato, who took off his shoe and began swiping at the coyote, which, according to the police report, caused the coyote to shift focus to Presendieu instead, who was still making his descent downhill.
During the chase, Presendieu tripped and fell onto the ground, and the coyote approached him aggressively. Marcus, who had been observing, said he feared for Presendieu’s safety and thought that if he didn’t act, the coyote would have attacked him.
Marcus, who has a concealed weapons permit, drew his gun, a black 9 mm Glock, from his waistband and shot in the direction of the coyote, which made the coyote immediately jump back and run towards the bushes, where the coyotes are believed to be living.
While the coyote ran away, Presendieu still sustained an injury to his right leg from the chase and fall and was transported to Broward Health Coral Springs.
Andy Blecker, Parks and Recreation technician, said he would be conducting a follow-up report due to the incident in the city park and would contact his supervisor to make them aware of the aggressive coyotes located in the area.
According to The Humane Society, if you see a coyote in your area during the day time, it is usually no cause for alarm—most coyotes try to avoid humans unless humans have fed them in the past.
Usually, respecting their space works. If not, a tactic called hazing usually works to reinstill fear—which works by raising your arms and yelling.
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2 comments
Up until now I have stayed silent on my involvement in this article and issue, and have declined interviews on nearly every local news outlet. While the details in this article are almost entirely accurate, my official response regarding the situation and comments on the article published on the Coral Springs Talk Facebook page from people who weren’t present, is as follows:
I would like to first thank the Coral Springs Police Department and Fire Rescue for their level of professionalism and quick response to the incident, and extend that thank you to Coral Springs city officials who took the matter seriously and closed the park to ensure the safety of everyone in our community.
As a person who was actually involved, I quickly realize that for many people it is a lot easier to shoot their mouths off commenting from the safety of the internet, than it is to run between an injured person and a coyote who is attacking him…and then take a shot that actually matters. Judge the situation how you want. You have the benefit of an amendment that protects your freedom speech and opinion, even if what you say about me is inaccurate and illogical. That benefit is protected by a second amendment that in this instance was far more effective in stopping the coyote attack than the first will ever be. Trust me, my words were ineffective in getting the coyote to run away.
For those who judge this situation harshly, I’ll very politely say, bless your heart.
On a wider scale issue, comments regarding this entire event is an example of a much bigger societal issue that we have that is breaking down humanity. If as a society we can’t transform the way we approach ANY topic, I truly believe we are doomed long-term. So long as people continue to focus their efforts and energy preparing comments to insight arguments, instead of having productive conversations, we will never be able to solve issues and move forward on anything in an efficient and effective manner.
We need to be better at communicating with one another, especially when we disagree. We can’t treat the world like a bad marriage, and simply move on to a new relationship when it finally breaks. The idea of bi-partisanship and collective efforts rolls off the tongue nicely, but it is often a theory that doesn’t get put into practice.
How many of you have ever had your mind changed by someone who is yelling at you? How many of you have ever influenced any one to agree with you, by yelling at them?
Just my thoughts.
All the best,
Tim Marcus
Marcus, I corrected my error and am so sorry. I wrote the article on the 2nd coyote sighting. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.