A 37-year-old homeless woman riding a bicycle was arrested by Santa Monica police officers on animal cruelty charges on Saturday, Aug. 5 after purposely dragging a puppy on a leash while she was riding.
Officers went to the area of Fourth Street and Broadway at 3:59 p.m. after receiving a report of this animal cruelty.
When they arrived, officers detained the woman in the 400 block of Broadway who had been riding her bicycle westbound on Broadway with a puppy hanging from a leash.
The officers learned that several bystanders had attempted to get the attention of the suspect because she was dragging the helpless puppy along behind her.
When the puppy had become completely limp a witness attempted to stop this woman but failed.
The officers investigated and learned that it appeared that the woman was conscious of the puppy’s state, as she had deliberately avoided several witnesses who had attempted to stop her until the police stopped her.
Santa Monica Animal Control Officers took the puppy for a medical examination, and the woman was taken to jail.
This woman was charged with animal cruelty, violation of probation, and two outstanding warrants.
Bail was set at $11,117.
Editor’s Note: These reports are part of a regular police coverage series entitled “Alert Police Blotter” (APB), which injects some minor editorial into certain police activities in Santa Monica. Not all of the Mirror’s coverage of incidents involving police are portrayed in this manner. More serious crimes and police-related activities are regularly reported without editorial in the pages of the Santa Monica Mirror and its website, smmirror.com.
