Juan Daniels, 28, is wanted for attempted murder.
Officials with the Montgomery Police Department say Daniels is wanted for intentionally driving his SUV into an apartment at the Plaza at Centennial Hill off Highland Avenue near downtown Montgomery.
He was allegedly trying to hit a man he had been arguing with but hit a 6-year-old instead. The child suffered life-threatening injuries.
Daniels is a familiar face to law enforcement and to many in the community. He is the same man convicted of setting a dog on fire in 2007. The story made national headlines.
Dee Hartley adopted the badly injured pit bull.
“I don't think we've ever been afraid until probably now,” Hartley said Friday after the news broke. “It was like a punch in the stomach, it brought back a lot of memories."
Daniels admitted to beating the dog (named Louis Vuitton) with a shovel, dousing him with lighter fluid and setting him on fire.
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| Animal cruelty is a gateway drug - abusers move on to children |
“To have done what he did to an animal, there's a history of abuse,” Hartley said.
The road to recovery for Louis Vuitton has been long, but his owner says he's back up and going strong.
“He does have some residual issues from the shovel beating, some arthritis in the disk and his back where that was an injury and he's undergone more treatments of injections,” said Hartley.
Hartley vividly remembers the last time she saw Daniels. It was at his sentencing in 2009 when he was sentenced to nine years in prison.
"His size, he's very large and I just kept thinking why would someone that big be so brutal to a small animal,” said Hartley.
Police say Daniels fled the scene Thursday night, just like he did in 2007.
"This time it's not a dog, it's a human being,” said Scott Hill, the case agent from Daniels' animal cruelty case.
Scott Hill, Daniels' arresting officer seven years ago, questions why the convicted felon is out of jail in the first place.
"There's studies out there that show the link between animal cruelty, child abuse, elderly abuse, domestic violence so it's definitely there,” said Hill.
Hartley said she would check the Department of Corrections website frequently to see if Daniels had been released from prison. Daniels was released in November of 2013 after serving four years.
A once battered and bruised dog serves as a painful reminder of what this suspect is capable of.
“We fell madly in love with him, he's a very special dog and you can tell that there was nothing in him that would have provoked this attack,” Hartley said.
Police consider Daniels armed and dangerous. If you see him, call police or Crimestoppers at 215-STOP, there is a cash reward.
(WSFA - Feb 14, 2015)
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