LOUISIANA -- Walker police arrested a man and issued a misdemeanor summons to his son in their alleged abandonment July 9 of four kittens thrown from a pickup window near the Walker Animal Shelter.
Oscar Romero, 53, of Satsuma, was booked into the Livingston Parish Detention Center on Tuesday on four counts of principal to animal cruelty, careless operation of a vehicle, driving under suspension and resisting arrest, Walker police Capt. John Sharp said in a news release Thursday.
Police originally planned to give Romero only a misdemeanor summons for cruelty to animals, but he became uncooperative with officers when told of the summons, Sharp said.
Romero was arrested after a “brief and unsuccessful struggle” with police, Sharp said.
Oscar Romero’s son, Victor Romero, 31, also of Satsuma, was issued a misdemeanor summons July 18 citing him on four counts of cruelty to animals.
Sharp said the incident began when Victor Romero showed up at the animal shelter on Ball Park Road seeking to drop off four kittens he said he had found on South Satsuma Road.
The shelter couldn’t accept the kittens because they were found outside of Walker’s city limits.
Victor Romero became angry and left, saying he would solve the problem another way.
Shelter Director Mary Gray, who followed Victor Romero as he left the shelter, saw him get into a blue Dodge pickup driven by his father, Sharp said.
The truck drove down Ball Park Road until it stopped while Victor Romero threw the kittens from the passenger-side window. Then, it sped away, Sharp said.
Gray photographed the rear of the truck before it drove off.
Walker police identified the truck’s owner as a woman who was related to both Romeros.
Her name was not given in Sharp’s news release.
The woman told police that her stepson, Victor Romero, sometimes used her truck, Sharp said.
She added she would ask him about the kittens when he returned home.
The woman’s husband, Oscar Romero, denied any knowledge of abandonment of the kittens at the animal shelter.
Shortly after officers left the woman’s home, they received a call from Victor Romero, who confessed to throwing the kittens from the truck, Sharp said.
Victor Romero also told police his father, Oscar Romero, was the one who drove the truck during their visit to the animal shelter.
Oscar Romero was released from jail after posting bail of $3,530, Sharp said.
(The Advocate - July 25, 2013)
