ISLAMORADA, Fla. (WFLA) — A Florida man was accused of throwing two kittens out of a moving car onto US-1, where one later died.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said a witness spotted Diego Torres Ruiz, 29, allegedly tossing the cats from the window his SUV on Nov. 28. The witness told deputies cars had to swerve to avoid hitting them.
Deputies said they stopped Ruiz after the witness provided a description of the car and its license plate number. He denied knowing anything about the kittens and deputies had not found them yet, so Ruiz was released.
The sheriff’s office said deputies found a dead kitten later that day. They said it appeared to have been hit by a car.
The second kitten was found by a restaurant employee and taken to a veterinarian with non life-threatening injuries. Deputies said the person who witnessed the incident went on to adopt the surviving kitten.
The sheriff’s office arrested Ruiz on Thursday. He was booked into the Monroe County Detention Center on two counts of animal cruelty – one misdemeanor and one felony.
“I take these incidents very seriously and I’m happy to report an arrest was made in this case,” Sheriff Rick Ramsay said.