Teen Arrested Over Video Showing Him Throwing Cat, Police Say
A male senior that attends Patterson High School in Patterson, California, was arrested Friday after his alleged involvement in a video that showed him throwing a cat into a body of water, police said.
Garrett Haile, who reportedly turned 18 this week, was arrested on felony charges of animal cruelty following his year-old cat hurling video, The Modesto Bee reported. Investigators said the person who filmed the controversial video may also face charges.
"Patterson Police Services deputies received information about a disturbing video, which had been posted on a private Facebook group page for local residents," Patterson Police Services (PPS) wrote on Facebook. "The video showed a young man throwing a cat in [a] large body of water as he and others were joking about the action. The Patterson Police Services Facebook page also received several private messages informing us of the video and the identity of the subject."
"It is believed this incident occurred several months ago and that several other subjects were with Garratt at the time the video was recorded," PPS added.
Graphic video footage of the incident shows Haile hurling a cat into a body of water after someone can be overheard saying: "Welcome to bada—, and this is Felipe the flying cat." Other expletives can be heard in the background before the video cuts off.
The PPS said it appreciates the public's help in this investigation.
"This is an excellent example of the public's cooperation and we certainly appreciate it," PPS Chief Jeff Dirkse said, according to its Facebook page. "With calls we received and the information shared to us via social media, we were able to quickly investigate, identify, and make an arrest in this case."
Detectives are still working towards investigating the case to potentially identify additional subjects and the location of the incident, however. Patterson police suspect that Haile will receive minor charges, but not all see that as the case.
"At 17, I still knew what I was doing. He knew what he was doing," Nicole Pinheiro, who shared the video, told KTXL. "Even if he was just joking around, or just trying to put something on Snapchat, or whatever he was doing, it's wrong regardless. Regardless of if it's a year old or today, he still did it."
It remains unknown whether the cat survived the attack.
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