- Florida, USA -
St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office said that 41-year-old JUSTIN CHARLES MITCHELL (pictured below), left his dog locked in his car, causing the death of the poor pup.
MITCHELL was arrested Friday, April 3.
He was charged with unlawful confinement or abandonment of an animal and aggravated animal cruelty, a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
According to an arrest report, MITCHELL’s girlfriend told deputies that on Wednesday, April 1, he checked into the Holiday Inn near World Golf Village after they argued.
When the girlfriend went to the hotel on Friday morning to check on MITCHELL, she discovered their Poodle-type dog locked in her boyfriend’s vehicle, a Volvo SUV, which was parked in the hotel’s parking lot.
When deputies arrived, they found the furbaby decomposing on the floorboard of the front passengers’ side seat.
They observed that all the car windows were rolled up, and there was no food or water.
Deputies interviewed staff members of the hotel, and they learned that MITCHELL had overstayed his reservation but wouldn’t answer his door or phone calls to the room.
Eventually, deputies made contact with him.
He claimed he checked on the dog within the past two hours.
When MITCHELL opened the vehicle for deputies, the dog was dead.
A St. Johns County Animal Control officer responded and determined the dog had been dead at least 24 hours.
MITCHELL was released from jail Saturday afternoon on $3,000 bail.
