JACKSONVILLE, Florida. – Some details included in this report are graphical in nature. Discretion advised.
A man who was arrested in November in connection with the death of a cat in the Springfield neighborhood now faces an additional count of animal cruelty, according to an arrest report from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. obtained Thursday by News4JAX.
The report shows Blake Miles is facing the second felony charge in relation to an incident involving a cat at a rooming house on Market Street in early November. According to the report, the cat’s owner contacted police after seeing information about Miles’ arrest. The cat’s owner, according to the report, told JSO that his cat was missing and he heard a “loud commotion.” coming from the bathroom. The report states that when he knocked on the door, Miles told him his cat was not there and the noise was that he was trying to unclog the toilet.
According to the report, after Miles left the bathroom, the owner entered the bathroom and found his cat soaked and covered in feces in the shower. He told police the cat was unable to move and “on the verge of death”. He told police the suspect “attempted to drown the victim’s cat,” the report said.
News4JAX visited the house. A resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said she remembered the incident.
“The little baby’s legs were all swollen. And he was like… I don’t know if he was choking or what, but he had to rush him to the vet,” the resident said.
“I didn’t let him handle my dog because one day he grabbed my dog,” the resident added. “I’m like, ‘Hey. No. Don’t do that. That’s my kid.’ He said, “I was just playing. No.”
The arrest report also mentions an incident in which someone else allegedly caught Miles flushing a cat down the toilet.
Prior to Miles’ arrest, Springfield cat owners were on high alert after police said a man matching his description was seen on video snatching Ashi – the cat from ‘a family – from its owner’s porch, then to fight the animal in a tarp. The tarp was later found, but Ashi was not located.
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Beginning in mid-November, JSO said it began receiving phone calls about missing and/or dead cats in the Springfield area. The sheriff’s office said officers responded to multiple calls within weeks.
“Following the complaints and seeing a trend developing in the area, officers immediately began probing known areas of the reported incidents trying to put a name to the face of the potential suspect,” the sheriff’s office said in previous news. Release.
According to this report, Miles is only charged with animal cruelty in two incidents in the Springfield area.
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