Montclair road-rage man explains dog toss

By ERIN ROLL
roll@montclairlocal.news

Montclair resident Marc Dionne, shown on video throwing a small dog out of a car in a July 12 road-rage incident, claimed that he did it in an attempt to distract the other man involved in the altercation, according to the police report.

Dionne was charged with animal cruelty by the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals earlier this week, after a video of him throwing the dog out of the minivan driven by Saddle Brook resident Gary Keay surfaced on Reddit, sparking public outrage. The 39-second video showed Dionne and Keay getting into a physical and verbal altercation behind their stopped vehicles near the intersection of Bloomfield and Gates avenues, after which Dionne opened the van’s door, took out a miniature pinscher named Daphne, and threw her onto the sidewalk.

But the video didn’t capture the beginning of the dispute, and that’s where the narratives in the police report differ widely.

Keay and his wife, Linda, told police and the media that Dionne had been weaving in and out of traffic before getting stuck behind a bus. But Dionne told police that Keay had cut him off near Lloyd Road and began traveling slowly, and that when Dionne went around the van, Keay began honking at him and shouting at him.

According to the report, Dionne told police that he was making a delivery run for Tinga, a Mexican restaurant in Montclair, when the white Toyota Sienna minivan cut him off at Lloyd Road and began traveling at a low rate of speed. He stated that he passed the vehicle and drove back in front of it. When both vehicles were stopped at Bloomfield Avenue and Valley Road, Dionne alleged that Keay beeped his horn, gave him the middle finger and began yelling at him about his driving. He also alleged that at Bloomfield and Gates, Keay got out, and Dionne exited his vehicle as well.

Dionne claimed in the report that he took the dog out of the vehicle and “tossed” it to the sidewalk in an attempt to distract Keay and get him to leave him alone. He also said that he called 911 after the incident.

In Keay’s version of the story, Dionne had been traveling at a high rate of speed on Bloomfield Avenue. At Bloomfield and Valley, Keay stated that he had motioned to Dionne to slow down, and then at Bloomfield and Gates, it was Dionne who exited his vehicle first.

Keay said that he tried to open the passenger door on Dionne’s vehicle to try to take his car keys after Dionne threw Daphne out onto the sidewalk, in order to keep Dionne from driving away. Keay told police that he had sustained some minor injuries but did not seek medical attention, and that he was going to take his dog to the veterinarian for treatment as she was limping.

The police report did not indicate whether either party had filed charges against each other. It did indicate that the police had learned of the incident when a reporter from the Star-Ledger asked the police if they had any information regarding a video that had been going viral on the internet.