Bay City man, Trent McLeod, pleads no contest to animal cruelty charge in spiking a kitten like a football onto the ground

I'm including the tag "child is abuser" because he's 18 and close enough to still being a child.

MICHIGAN -- A Bay City teen has copped a plea to a felony charge stemming from his spiking a kitten onto the ground in view of police, and in view of their body-worn cameras.

Trent W. McLeod, 18, was scheduled to appear before Bay County District Judge Timothy J. Kelly for a preliminary examination the afternoon of Tuesday, May 19. Instead of proceeding with the hearing, McLeod waived his right to the hearing and Kelly bound his case over to Circuit Court.

Kelly then acted as a judge of the higher court as McLeod pleaded no contest to single counts of torturing or killing an animal and malicious destruction of a building between $1,000 and $20,000.

The former is a four-year felony, while the latter is punishable by up to five years' imprisonment.

A no contest plea is not an admission of guilt but is treated as such for the purposes of sentencing. Kelly relied on police reports to enter convictions on the record.

McLeod's defense attorney, Bruce K. Mannikko, said his client was pleading no contest as he had consumed intoxicating substances before committing his crimes and had no memory of them.

In exchange for his pleas, Bay County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Nancy E. Borushko agreed to dismiss counts of assault and battery, larceny from a motor vehicle, malicious destruction of property less than $200 and, in unrelated files, minor in possession of alcohol, minor in possession of cigarettes and third-degree retail fraud.

According to police reports contained in court records, officers on the night of Tuesday, May 5, responded to an apartment building in the 1400 block of McKinley Avenue after receiving calls from people claiming a resident was on a violent tear. One caller, building maintenance man Frank Schalk, told police that McLeod, a resident, had struck him in his head.

Upon arrival, officers could hear cacophonous sounds from inside McLeod's unit. They also saw numerous items lying on the ground outside the residence.

Schalk told police he had been called to the building by other residents. He said McLeod punched him in the back of the head, causing him to see stars, court records show.

Tyler May, a friend of McLeod, told police McLeod had recently been released from the hospital and was suicidal, court records show. As officers spoke with May, McLeod exited his home holding a kitten in his right hand. The feline was upside down and McLeod was holding him by his neck, according to court records and police camera footage obtained by The Times via a Freedom of Information Act request.

McLeod lifted the kitten over his head and slammed him to the ground, the footage shows. The kitten then meowed loudly and appeared injured, limping and not being very mobile, court records state.

When police threatened to stun McLeod with a Taser, he surrendered and was handcuffed. He then continued to harangue bystanders and resist police as they led him to a patrol vehicle. In the process, he broke one of the officer's body-worn Vievu cameras, valued at $899.95, court records show.

Officers eventually got McLeod under control and placed him in a police vehicle. Told of the animal cruelty charge he'd likely face, McLeod told police he didn't throw the feline that hard, court records show.

After officers read McLeod his Miranda rights, he declined to comment further.

Officers entered McLeod's apartment and found every window smashed, kitchen cabinets broken, a door ripped off its hinges, and plates strewn about, they wrote in their reports. They also determined McLeod had apparently taken a golf club to the window of a parked truck, according to court records.

Police also confiscated items they believed McLeod had stolen, court records state.

Officers summoned Bay County Animal Control officers to the scene. They took the kitten to Bay Animal Hospital, 637 W. Center Road in Hampton Township, for treatment.

There, doctors discovered the kitten — named Tarzan — suffered fractures to his femurs and pelvis, as well as a urinary bladder injury, veterinarian Dr. Bruce W. Francke previously said.

Tarzan is healing and remains spritely, though his young age means he needs about another 10 weeks' growth before necessary surgery can be conducted, Francke has said.

Tarzan remains at Bay Animal Hospital, awaiting adoption as McLeod has signed away his ownership rights, staff there said.

McLeod's sentencing date in Circuit Court is pending.

(MLive.com - May 20, 2015)