- Florida, USA -
Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno held a press conference on Wednesday, April 20, to provide updates on an animal cruelty case.
He said that on April 1, his office received an animal cruelty complaint in reference to a male repeatedly punching a dog in a vehicle at a gas station.
“This disturbing video was found on social media and the scene appeared to be at Race Trac gas station based on the style of the gas pumps”, explained Sheriff Marceno.
Detectives with the sheriff’s office animal cruelty task force along with community response unit, and East District Criminal Investigation Division were immediately dispatched to canvass the entire county.
A crime stoppers tip led detectives to RaceTrac at 4551 South Cleveland Avenue in Fort Myers.
Based on the tip, detectives were able to confirm the incident location and that tipster will receive a reward up to $3,000.
“Detectives collected evidence, conducted interviews, and left no stone unturned”, said Sheriff Marceno.
WINK reports that while deputies were speaking with potential witnesses where the abuse took place, 22-years-old MARCUS LYNN CHIDDISTER (pictured) and his girlfriend drove up in the same car seen in the video.
Deputies took CHIDDISTER and his girlfriend into custody while they searched the car and found evidence that a dog had been in the vehicle.
Deputies showed her the video showing CHIDDISTER striking a dog and she identified the car as hers and identified CHIDDISTER as the person that appeared to be beating the dog in the video.
She told deputies that the dog had eaten some of their food which made CHIDDISTER upset. She said that is when he went into the backseat and hit the dog several times. The woman also said that CHIDDISTER had hit the dog several times in the past.
FOX 4 reports that according to the report, CHIDDISTER told detectives that there were clothes in the back seat and he was punching the cockroaches.
Detectives were able to also locate the dog, a female Bulldog mix named Sheba, at the couple’s home.
Lee County Domestic Animal Services responded to the scene and took the 2-year-old VOICELESS VICTIM to get veterinary care.
The medical report revealed injuries to include swelling, fractured and exposed pulp capacity, hemorrhage in the left eye, mild swelling of the left and right eyes, bruising around the right ventral neck area, and broken teeth. The doctor also concluded that the soft tissue bruising on Sheba is from contusions brought by blunt force, meaning the bruises were not by accident.
Thankfully, Sheba is expected to fully recover.
Sheriff Marceno brought Sheba in during the press conference and showed how sweet the furbaby is.
Sheriff Marceno advised that his legal team has drafted an emergency petition to remove Sheba from her evil abuser permanently!
CHIDDISTER was arrested on Tuesday, April 19, on felony animal cruelty and was booked into the Lee County Jail.
CHIDDISTER is being held with no bond until Thursday for a probation violation.
He was on probation for felony delivery with a gun and ammo. His bond for the felony animal cruelty charge has been set at $25,000. He has been ordered to surrender all animals and pets and is not permitted to be around any animals.
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