JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The body of a man discovered on Jacksonville’s Westside was identified by his relatives and friends. Ronald Coffman, sixty, lived on Townsend Road. His body was discovered Saturday morning, near Ricker Road.
The night after Coffman’s death was discovered, Animal Control authorities collected several dogs from a property across the street. It now appears that the finding of Coffman’s body and the confiscation of the dogs are related to a JSO death investigation.
JSO and animal control confirmed the investigation is still ongoing.
However, others who knew Coffman and had frightening encounters with the seized dogs have revealed a lot about both him and the dogs.
Two ladies who talked with News4JAX said they knew Coffman well but requested anonymity since the circumstances surrounding his death are still being investigated.
“He was a very kind dude. He opened his home to several homeless persons. “He was a very generous person,” one woman stated.
“He was a nice guy. “He helped anyone he could,” another woman stated.
The manager of a convenience shop near where Coffman’s body was discovered said Coffman was one of his favorite daily customers and was well-known to residents along Ricker Road. Coffman died on the same road that he had walked, biked, and driven to and from the store.
While police have yet to confirm whether the dogs seized were involved in Coffman’s death, multiple neighbors told News4JAX that for several months, the same dogs had escaped the gated property and wreaked havoc on unsuspecting people walking or riding their bicycles down Ricker Road. They also stated that it was typical to witness dogs chasing after autos.
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Several neighbors informed News4JAX that animal control was sent to the dogs’ home on multiple occasions after complaints about them. The relatives of one of the victims showed News4JAX a photo of their loved one’s wounded ankle.
The ankle was bleeding after being bitten during an attack. Another neighbor stated that he and his wife phoned animal control after the dogs entered their property, killed their cat, and chased their cattle. They claimed that at the time, animal control officers told them that they couldn’t remove the dogs since there was no concrete proof that the canines responsible for the attacks were the same dogs from the adjoining property.
The two women who talked with News4JAX stated that they were also attacked by the same dogs while the front gate to the property was open.
“I was bitten on the leg, then nipped at. “They got my hip area,” claimed the first woman who recalled being attacked by multiple dogs. “One was on one side of the bike, while the others were on the other. “I was brought down in the middle of the street.”
She claimed that a man who appeared to be the dogs’ owner approached her from the property where the dogs had come from and tried to persuade her that the canines were safe. She claimed she gave him the benefit of the doubt and decided not to report the incident.
“They were after me hard, and I almost lost control of my bike and went off. My chain came off. “I pedaled fast,” claimed the second woman.
But the mystery that remains is what connects the dogs to Coffman’s death, and why they were removed the day after his body was discovered. Where were his clothes? Is there any DNA evidence linking the dogs to Coffman’s body? Was there any surveillance video that captured Coffman’s interaction with the dogs?
Another question is what the dog’s owner has to say about this.
News4JAX discovered who owned the dogs through various neighbors, but he cannot be identified since he has not been charged with a crime.