Judge releases man accused of killing dog in Seattle a day after his arrest
SEATTLE - Seattle Police arrested a man accused of kicking a dog so hard that she flew through the air and then died. At his first court appearance a day after his arrest, a judge released him on his own recognizance without bail.
According to the Seattle Police Department, a 67-year-old man was walking his dog, a Jack Russell terrier, Saturday afternoon through Courthouse Park in Pioneer Square.
The victim told police he pepper-sprayed the suspect out of fear that the suspect was going to steal his jacket. As the victim was walking away, police say the suspect "ran up behind him and kicked his dog so hard she flew into the air."
The victim was knocked to the ground and suffered minor injuries. When he went to check on his dog, he found her dead.
Officers said the suspect fled the scene, but they took him into custody Sunday evening less than a block from the crime scene.
The 29-year-old suspect was booked into King County Jail for investigation of first-degree animal cruelty and second-degree attempted robbery.
The King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office asked a judge to hold him on $25,000 bail, but the judge released the man on his own recognizance a day after his arrest. He has not been formally charged.
Seattle Police objected to the man's release, saying his "escalating behavior will continue."
Prosecutors also asked the judge to find probable cause for felony animal cruelty, but the judge ruled there was probably cause for second-degree animal cruelty, a gross misdemeanor.
The dog was 14 years old.
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