Bail was set at $20,000 on Friday, Dec. 27 for a 56-year-old Santa Monica man who was arrested after being caught dragging a puppy on a leash while he was riding a bicycle.
Officers of the Santa Monica Police Department responded to a radio call at 7:30 pm on this day informing them a drunk man was riding a bicycle in the 2100 block of Ocean Front Walk at a high rate of speed whilst dragging a little puppy behind attached to a leash.
When the officers arrived they found the suspect surrounded by a group of concerned citizens and witnesses.
The witnesses told the officers that this man had been dragging the little puppy behind his bicycle and the puppy had been making a torturous squealing sound suggesting severe pain and discomfort.
The man had been stopped by some of the witnesses and had subsequently challenged one of the witnesses to a fight after that witness had questioned the suspect’s ability to take care of the puppy in a responsible and loving manner.
The officers arrested this drunken man and he was charged with animal cruelty and public intoxication.
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.
