A North Carolina man has been arrested and charged after police said he allegedly broke into the home of his tenants while they were away on vacation, shot, and killed their pet cat, Frank. The incident was captured on video.
A press release from Burke County Sheriff’s Office stated that on July 15, they received a report about a breaking and entering incident as well as animal cruelty. The following day, the release mentioned that a detective contacted the victims, Harmony Chizem and her boyfriend, Preston Finley.
The couple then provided video footage of the incident, which showed Dustin McCormack breaking into their home without authorization on July 10, just 5 days prior, kicking, and then shooting their cat.
WATCH VIDEO BELOW: (VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED)
According to the investigators, they quickly identified McCormack in the video, as stated in the press release. Police also alleged that McCormack made a live Facebook video where he discussed the incident. A Facebook post referencing the victim and displaying pictures of the victim’s residence was also found on his account, which helped investigators.
The tenants didn’t have permission to have cat in property
McCormack has been quick to come to his own defense, but that probably wasn’t a good idea. He told WSOC in Charlotte that he never gave the tenants permission to keep a cat on the premises. Furthermore, he claimed that his intentions were not to shoot the cat but only to scare it away.
“I had to get the cat out of the house and when I got it off the porch, it wouldn’t run, so I just scared it so it would go away,” he told the outlet.
McCormack also claimed that when he entered the tenant’s home, he needed to retrieve some of his own belongings and discovered that the cat had caused damage to the property. He informed the outlet that the cat had been left unsupervised in the house for “two days.”
“It just peed all over everything. I go to my houses for random checks all the time. They were using a room. The house wasn’t theirs,” McCormack said
Harmony Chizem and her boyfriend, Preston Finley, told WSOCTV that they named their cat “Frank.” Chizem said she has been in tears since she learned what happened to her beloved pet.
“I kind of felt like I was having a panic attack with what had gone on because it is just so cruel,” Chizem told the outlet.
McCormack was booked at the Burke County Jail on charges of cruelty to animals and breaking or entering, both classified as felonies. He posted a $20,000 bond, and was released from custody. A court appearance for McCormack has been scheduled for August 9.
Apart from the aforementioned charges related to animal cruelty, McCormack is facing several pending cases in Burke and Iredell Counties. These include charges of violating a domestic violence protective order, cyberstalking, assault on a female, speeding, resisting a public officer, reckless driving, and possessing an expired registration card.
