Dog attacked with drill gun
Plainville, CT (US)Incident Date: Sunday, Jan 13, 2008
County: Hartford
Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Alleged
Case Images: 1 files available
Alleged:
» Severino Cruz
» Enrique Cruz
Case Updates: 6 update(s) available
Two arrests were made yesterday in Plainville due to disorderly conduct and cruelty to animals.
Severino Cruz, 33, and his brother Enrique Cruz, 28, both of Plainville, were arrested for cruelty to animals, an unvaccinated dog and unlicensed dog.
They both live together.
Severino Cruz's son, Nick Cruz, 8, was bitten by a pet pitbull named Baby on Sunday. Severino was at work when the dog, belonging to Enrique, got loose and bit Severino's son.
Enrique took Nick to the hospital. Meanwhile, Severino found out what happened, grabbed a power drill and drilled the dog in the head several times. The dog was not killed, but was severely injured.
Enrique found out what his brother did and reported it to the police.
Police investigated and found that the dogs were living under very poor conditions. It also seemed that they were suffering from malnutrition.
When police went to the house, they found another pitbull by the name of Coffee. The dog was taken by police, placed in a pound, and will be up for adoption shortly.
Severino was held yesterday on a $50,000 bond. He appeared in court today and his bond was reduced to $25,000. He's still incarcerated.
Enrique was given a $10,000 non-surety bond and was released yesterday. The court date is set for January 22nd.
Case UpdatesA prosecutor says a Plainville man accused of drilling several holes in a dog's head has been deported to Mexico.
Severino Cruz had claimed he attacked the pit bull at his home in January after the dog bit his 8-year-old son. The dog had to be euthanized because of its injuries.
The prosecutor says the 32-year-old Cruz, who pleaded not guilty to animal cruelty charges, was sent back to Mexico on May 15.
Cruz still faces two animal cruelty charges. A judge in Bristol Superior Court Thursday issued a warrant to re-arrest Cruz in case he returns to the United States and is stopped by police. | Source: Newsday.com - May 28, 2007
Update posted on May 28, 2008 - 5:49PM |
The man accused of savagely killing a pet pit bull by drilling holes into her head may never go to trial for the attack, a judge said Wednesday.
Instead, Severino Cruz is likely to be deported.
During a lengthy hearing, Judge Joseph Doherty said the animal abuse allegations against Cruz "shock the conscience," and refused Cruz's request for a special form of probation. Doherty continued the case until May 22, but acknowledged that that session probably won't accomplish much.
"It may very well be that Mr. Cruz will not be in court that day," prosecutor Stephen Preleski said in court. "He probably will be in federal custody at that time."
After the hearing, judicial marshals led Cruz out of the courtroom and planned to transfer him to a federal detention facility in Hartford. Cruz's attorney, Deron Freeman. said his client probably will be deported to Mexico in the next two weeks or so.
Cruz's case has drawn widespread publicity, leading hundreds of animal rights activists and others to write letters imploring Doherty to send Cruz to prison. About 30 activists with banners and placards protested outside Superior Court before the hearing, with many of them chanting "Abuse an animal, go to jail."
Cruz, 32, is accused of killing the dog after the animal bit his son in the basement of a Plainville duplex where the Cruzes were living with extended family. He has been free on bond since his arrest in January. But Cruz turned out to be living in the country illegally, and Freeman said it appears that he will be deported sometime this month. That would leave the animal abuse case hanging over his head if he ever returned to the United States, Freeman said.
In court, Freeman asked the judge to grant Cruz accelerated rehabilitation, which would have disposed of the case and left his record clear so long as he did not get into any new legal trouble in the following year. Freeman said his client is a hard-working, law-abiding family man who had acted in a moment of rage after learning that the dog, named Baby, had bitten his 9-year-old son.
"He's remorseful. I know there are reports that he's not, but those reports are untrue," Freeman told Doherty.
Preleski said the attack on the dog was too severe to allow for accelerated rehabilitation, and questioned Freeman's claim that Cruz was law-abiding.
"He's here illegally, he's been deported once already," Preleski said.
It's unclear how long Cruz lived in the country illegally, but Freeman said he had worked at the same job at a pizza restaurant for four years.
Freeman said that Cruz's family had nothing to do with the attack. He said Cruz's wife and children have received hate mail since the arrest, and he emphasized that with Cruz scheduled to be deported, letters from animal rights activists won't reach him in Plainville any longer. | Source: Hartford Courant - April 30, 2008
Update posted on Apr 30, 2008 - 10:03PM |
Dozens of animal rights protestors chanted "Justice for Baby" this morning before a brief court appearance by Severino Cruz, the Plainville man accused of viciously boring holes into the head of a pit bull named Baby.
Cruz eluded the crowd on the way in, but several protestors shouted angrily at defense attorney Deron Freeman as he arrived, and at least 20 people yelled taunts later when Cruz rode out of a garage behind a police escort.
There was no violence Tuesday or at a similar anti-Cruz protest last month, but police kept watch outside and a state trooper stood guard inside the courtroom. When Cruz stepped forward in the courtroom, two judicial marshals pointedly stationed themselves between him and the crowd.
In court, Freeman said he will ask next month that Cruz receive a special form of probation that would let him avoid jail time or any permanent criminal record. Senior Supervisory Assistant State's Attorney Stephen Preleski announced that he will oppose that request when Judge Joseph Doherty hears it on April 30.
Cruz, who is free on bail, quickly left the courtroom and walked through the municipal parking garage to the car of a friend or relative, who drove him away.
Protestors on both sides of the exit ramp chanted taunts and held up signs reading "People who abuse dogs don't stop there" and "Zero tolerance for cruelty send Cruz to jail now."
Cruz could be fined $5,000 and imprisoned for up to five years if he's convicted of maliciously maiming or killing an animal, a Class D felony, and animal cruelty, a misdemeanor.
Freeman said outside court that Cruz is remorseful about what happened.
"He wants to get this behind him and get on with his life. He's a family man," Freeman said. "This was a tragic event, but we have to remember there was a boy who was severely injured."
Police say Cruz's young sons were playing with his brother's pit bull and puppy in January when the puppy jumped on one of the boys. The other boy pulled the puppy off, and its mother - Baby - ran up and bit the boy. Cruz's brother, Enrique, took the boy to a hospital, where he was treated and released. But Cruz meanwhile learned what happened, went to the house and used Baby's chain to drag her against the side of her cage, according to court documents. He then stabbed the dog in the head with a power drill, and bored a series of holes into her head. A veterinarian euthanized her later.
"My client is fearful for his safety. He's facing a lot of intimidation," Freeman said. "He understands their cause. He's applied to take an anger management course, and he's applied to work (as community service) at a humane society or animal shelter.
"Whatever happened was a mistake, human frailty," Freeman said.
The protestors insisted that Cruz needs to spend time behind bars.
"We want the maximum punishment allowed for Severino Cruz," said Carol Taft, president of the Tolland-based Animal Welfare and Rights Entity. "We're horrified by what he did to her."
Dom Bianco, a 52-year-old home improvement worker from Berlin, said he was protesting to show that cruelty to animals is simply wrong.
"There was just no need for this. There's no morality in doing something like that," Bianco said. "Cats, dogs, birds -- you can't let that happen. You have to stand up for what you believe in." | Source: Courant.Com - March 11, 2008
Update posted on Mar 11, 2008 - 5:46PM |
Dozens of animal rights supporters protested outside Superior Court this morning as a Plainville man pleaded not guilty to charges that he stabbed a pit bull and drilled holes into the animal's head in revenge after the dog bit his son.
Inside the courthouse, a prosecutor hit Severino Cruz with a new charge that could put him in jail for up to five years.
Cruz, who is out on $25,000 bail, was in court for only moments. A state trooper stood watch outside the courtroom, and rows of protestors sat silently inside as Judge Joseph Doherty ordered the case continued to March 11.
Cruz and his attorney, Deron Freeman, then hurried out to their car, escorted by judicial marshals past a crowd of angry protestors.
"The protestors were very vocal and emotional," Freeman said later. "They were swearing at us, swearing at me, obviously trying to get a reaction out of myself and my client. But the marshals were very respectful of our rights."
Cruz, 32, was charged on Jan. 14 with animal cruelty and disorderly conduct. Plainville police said he used a power drill to bore several holes in the head of his brother's pit bull after the dog bit Cruz's 8-year-old son. The boy was treated at a nearby hospital and released, but the dog was so severely hurt that it was later euthanized.
Supervisory Assistant State's Attorney Stephen Preleski this morning added a new, more serious charge against Cruz. If Cruz is convicted of maliciously maiming or killing an animal, a felony, he could be fined $5,000 and sent to prison for up to five years.
"I reviewed the case and charged Mr. Cruz with what I feel are appropriate charges," Preleski said later. | Source: Hartford Courant - Feb 14, 2008
Update posted on Feb 14, 2008 - 9:38PM |
Severio Cruz has an upcoming court date set for February 14 at 10a.m. (Docket: H17B-CR08-0036590-S)
Current Charges:
53a-182 DISORDERLY CONDUCT Class C Misdemeanor
53-247(a) CRUELTY TO ANIMALS Class U Misdemeanor
| | Update posted on Jan 23, 2008 - 5:30PM |
Police have found a new home for a pit bull puppy whose mother was euthanized on Sunday because a man had made holes in the dog's head with a power drill.
The 4-month old puppy, whose former owner had named it Coffee, was taken from the home of Enrique and Severino Cruz on Sunday. On Tuesday, town Animal Control Officer Gabrielle Paciotti said a family from Portland is adopting the puppy. The police had put out calls for someone to adopt the puppy and Paciotti said the new owners are expected to take the dog home on Saturday.
Severino Cruz is accused of drilling holes in the mother dog's head because she bit his son.
Enrique Cruz owned both dogs and said on Tuesday he was so upset by what happened that he wanted police to take the puppy. Police Capt. Peter Costanzo said officers were worried about the dog because it appeared to be malnourished and neglected, something Cruz disputes.
The pit bull that was euthanized was named Baby and was a little more than a year old. Enrique Cruz said the two dogs were friendly animals that frequently played with his cousin Severino's children.
Cruz said his two nephews were playing with the dogs on Sunday. He said Coffee jumped on top of the younger child and that the older nephew, Nick, tried to pull the puppy off him. As Nick did that, Baby ran up to him and bit the 8-year-old boy on his arm.
Severino was not home when this happened, and Enrique took his nephew to the hospital. In the meantime, Severino learned what had happened and went to the house. There, Costanzo said, he used a power drill to bore several holes in Baby's head. He then went to the hospital to check on his son, Costanzo said.
Enrique Cruz said he left his nephew at the hospital and was going to meet police at the house to describe what happened. When he got there he found Baby badly injured. Police went back to the hospital where they found Severino Cruz, who had blood on his hands and clothing. Enrique Cruz said police also found a drill in his cousin's truck.
Enrique and Severino Cruz, both of 346 Farmington Ave., are charged with cruelty to animals. But Enrique Cruz said he is not angry at his cousin. | Source: Courant - Jan 16, 2008
Update posted on Jan 18, 2008 - 2:29PM |
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