At about 10 p.m. on Wednesday, July 20, Bay City Public Safety officers responded to 211 N. Madison Ave. for a call of a woman trying to kill kittens by throwing them in the street.
The person who called 911 also said the woman had smashed out the windows of two vehicles, court records show.
Upon arrival, officers saw a woman, identified as Lacey L. Williams, pacing around in her front yard, yelling and screaming at a man across the street.
Williams appeared highly intoxicated and agitated and was ranting in a way that made her difficult to understand, police wrote in their reports, contained in court files.
“I threw some little kittens out,” Williams told police, according to court records. “I gave them their litter. I can’t afford them. Do you want to pay for them?”
Williams went on to say she can do what she wants at her own home.
A Pontiac Montana van parked in her driveway had its rear window smashed out, court records show. Williams said she didn’t know who owned the van.
As police spoke with Williams, a witness pointed out a cardboard box across the street. An officer approached the box and found it contained four kittens whose eyes hadn’t opened yet. Nearby children then directed the officer to an adult cat, claiming it was the kittens’ mother, court records show.
“I took the cardboard box of kittens back across the street and put it near the mother cat,” the officer wrote in his report. “I eventually pulled the mother cat out of the bushes and placed it in the box with the kittens.”
Several witnesses gave police accounts of what happened, saying Williams threw a brick through the van’s window, then threw a slab through the window of a white Cadillac. The Cadillac drove off, however.
“She grabbed the cats and lofted them,” one witness told police. “She grabbed the mom and lofted it across the street. The cat went ‘SMACK!’ She threw the kittens like how you would throw a baseball. The kids picked up the kittens and put them in a box.”
Another witness said she whipped the mother cat and, on tossing the kittens in the street, yelled to bystanders, “Come and get them. The house is open!”
Court records indicate the mother cat was about 2 years old and the kittens were born within a week. A Bay County Animal Control officer responded to the scene and took the felines, which were later taken to Bay Animal Hospital in Hampton Township for an evaluation of their injuries and necessary treatment.
Police arrested Williams at the scene.
The next day, Bay County District Judge Mark E. Janer arraigned Williams on single counts of cruelty to four to 10 animals and disorderly conduct in public. The former is punishable by up to two years in prison and a $2,000 fine, while the latter is a 90-day misdemeanor.
Speaking at the arraignment, Bay County Assistant Prosecutor Bernard J. Coppolino said Williams has at least five felony and six misdemeanor convictions dating back to 1999. Due to Williams’ prior convictions, the animal cruelty’s penalty is increased to a potential maximum of 15 years in prison.
He asked her bond be set at $20,000 cash-surety, a request Judge Janer granted.
Janer said the case was “disturbing in nature” and ordered Williams have no pets as a condition of her bond.
“So what am I supposed to do with the animals I’ve had for 10 years?” Williams asked.
“You’ll have to find another family member or turn them over to the shelter or find another owner,” Janer replied.
Williams is to appear for a preliminary examination at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 3.
Bay County Prosecutor Kurt C. Asbury said Friday afternoon that he spoke with veterinarian Dr. Bruce W. Francke at Bay Animal Hospital and all five felines are uninjured and doing fine.
(MLive - July 22, 2016)
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