WILDWOOD — The child attacked by what police previously described as a "pit bull-type breed" was bit in the face, causing extensive injuries, police said in an updated report.

The dog's handler fled the scene, but turned himself in after police released surveillance images and a description Friday, police said.

Police newly reported late Friday the child was 11 years old, and visiting Wildwood from Bridgewater with his family. The dog and its handler had been walking on the beach when they approached the child and his family, police said.

The child asked for permission to pet the dog, and then the dog leapt forward to bite the child in the face, police said.

"As family members realized the severity of the injury and called 911, the handler fled the area with his dog prior to the arrival of emergency services," police said.

The man who turned himself in, with an attorney, has been identified as John Kalin, 28, of Wildwood. He was charged with violation of law intended to protect public health and safety, a third-degree crime, as well as "various local ordinance violations pertaining to having his dog on the beach," police said.

Kalin was lodged in the Cape May County Correctional Center.

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