Investigators have arrested a second teenager in an animal cruelty case stemming from a video that shows a kitten being hurled into a body of water.
Deputies with Patterson police arrested a 17-year-old Patterson boy on suspicion of participating in a criminal conspiracy, said Deputy Royjindar Singh, a Stanislaus County sheriff’s spokesman. The Sheriff’s Department provides police services for Patterson.
Investigators believe the boy was operating the video camera when Garrett Haile, 18, took the cat by the scruff of the neck and threw it far into the water, according to Patterson police.
Haile was arrested on suspicion of committing animal cruelty, a felony charge. He was booked at the Stanislaus County Jail on Friday morning. Haile has since been released from custody. It was unclear what was his bail amount.
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Garrett Haile
Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department
Patterson police officials said they could not release the name of the arrested 17-year-old boy because he is a minor. Singh said deputies arrested the boy on the felony charge Friday night at his home.
Investigators on Sunday had not been able to confirm where the cat was thrown into the water.
Patterson Police Services Chief Jeff Dirkse has speculated that the body of water shown could be at a water-treatment plant or part of the Delta-Mendota Canal. However, if it’s learned the incident happened outside the county, it could become a jurisdictional issue, he has said.
The incident apparently occurred about a year ago, but the video recently surfaced or resurfaced and spread over the Internet. It was unclear where the video originally was posted.
In the video, the person operating the camera can be heard saying, “Welcome to badass, and this is Felipe the flying cat.” At that point, the teenager in front of the camera, identified by authorities as Haile, throws the cat into the water.
Dirkse has said he expects that Haile would be prosecuted as a minor in Juvenile Court, because the incident occurred a year ago.
Patterson police ask anyone with information about this animal cruelty case to call Kristian Torres at (209) 652-5385.
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