A ferocious pit bull that has previously terrorized residents of a Rockland County town attacked a toddler as he played with other kids on an area street, leaving him mauled on the face and in need of stitches, officials said Friday.

Surveillance footage of the horrific attack, posted online, shows the dog charging at the 3-year-old, dragging and tossing him around like a rag doll at around 6 p.m. Thursday on North Cole Avenue in Spring Valley.

The boy, identified as Eli Mendlowitz, can then be seen struggling to crawl away before the dog pounces on him a second time.

Moments later, people can be seen rushing over to help, with one man pulling the canine away by its collar.

“I see the dog run across the street and bite the child. I was shocked. I was saying, ‘Oh my gosh! What happened over there?’ I saw him bite his neck. People were screaming. It was one second. It was a very, very wild dog,” said witness Motty Deutsch.

Rachel Brown, a neighbor, said that the charging pit bull missed her 7-year-old son “by a second.”

“My son feels so crazy right now. He couldn’t sleep. They were just playing,” said Brown, who added, “There was blood. Eli was screeching and then he calmed down.”

Responding police officers captured the dog and brought it to a local animal shelter for evaluation, police said.

Photos of the boy, posted to Twitter by the Hudson Valley Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council, show the side of the child’s face and neck bloodied from the “deep bite marks.”

Eli was treated at an area hospital and released after receiving stitches to close his wounds, the organization said.

Neighbors said Eli and his family went away for the weekend after the attack because “they’re so terrified” from the incident.

“He has stitches down his face and on his neck,” a next-door neighbor said.

The pit bull, known as Max, escaped its owner’s house after the owner’s child opened the front door of the residence on North Cole Avenue, Spring Valley Police Chief Paul Modica said.

The dog owner was issued a ticket at the scene for not having the required insurance on the animal, but “other charges may be forthcoming pending the complete investigation,” Modica said.

Neighbors say they have called the Spring Valley Police Department on the dog in the past after it was spotted running loose around the area.

“It’s not the first time with the dog running out,” Deutsch said.

Another neighbor, Solomon Brown, said, “It’s terrible. It’s not the first time the dog was loose. One time he came against me 10 p.m., 11 p.m. at night, and I scared him with my foot and he went away.”

“People see him and walk the other way. It’s not a small puppy, but it’s a big dog,” Solomon Brown said. “It’s a dangerous dog.”

One area resident said, “I’ve seen the dog before chasing kids.”

Cops said they’ve only received one prior complaint on the dog in the past year.

“During that one incident the dog was gone before patrols arrived on the scene,” Modica said.