NORTH MIAMI, Fla – A North Miami man is charged with animal cruelty after being caught “stomping on a white kitten and attempting to wedge the cat into a metal drainage grate,” according to the municipal police department.
Police stated the incident occurred on April 1, but suspect Watner Noel Janvier fled amid two arrest attempts. According to the arrest report, they located him on Wednesday.
According to the report, a witness captured video of the abuse near Northwest 136th Street and Sixth Avenue, and when he “yelled” at Janvier, the 20-year-old “grabbed the kitten and fled.”
That footage was eventually released on the social networking platform Only in Dade.
“The community saw something and said something, that’s number one,” Maj. Kessler Brooks, a spokesperson for the North Miami Police Department, said Thursday. “Number two is just a heinous act that was committed against a defenseless animal.”
After handing the kitten to a woman, he fled from approaching policemen who attempted to catch him, according to police.
Janvier’s family called North Miami police two days later to let them know he had returned home, according to the report. According to police, he successfully took off again.
“He kept on fleeing,” Brooks added. “And our investigators worked tirelessly, going back out. He became evasive. We went back out there to get him.”
Authorities claimed Janvier was found on Wednesday at his residence near the crime scene. The defendant “denied trying to kill or discard the kitten and stated what the video shows was not true,” according to the investigation report.
The kitten is said to have died.
“We did not find the remains of that animal, of the kitten, but another independent witness told us that, in fact, it had died,” Brooks told the reporter. “That, even more, pulled at the heartstrings of everyone who heard about it, even our cops, and we wanted to bring this person to justice.
“That is why we went out there and carried on. It’s been a month, and we haven’t let it go.”
Janvier was arrested and charged with animal cruelty with the intent to hurt or kill, as well as resisting arrest.
Local 10 News got exclusive body camera video of authorities putting him into custody.
As of Thursday, he no longer appeared in Miami-Dade jail records.
Reference: ‘Heinous act’: Police make arrest after they say video shows North Miami man ‘stomping’ on kitten
