He bit the puppy and vowed to kill it, police say. Now he’s in jail

A Fresno man was booked into the county jail Monday after being arrested for allegedly biting a puppy and trying to kill the animal, police reported.

Joe Rodriguez, 18, is charged with cruelty to another person’s animal.

Police went to the 4500 block of East Nevada Avenue just before midnight Friday after dispatchers reported a man there was hurting the pet.

Witnesses told an officer that Rodriguez picked up the puppy and began biting the animal until the dog began to yelp and whimper before breaking free and running into the kitchen. Rodriguez ran after the puppy shouting, “I am going to kill the dog!”

A witness took hold of the dog but Rodriguez snatched the animal and “shoved the puppy into the edge of a stove multiple times,” police said in a report. The dog escaped into a yard.

Rodriguez was held on $7,500 bail. Police did not have information about the type of dog that was involved in the incident, and the Fresno SPCA said the animal was not taken in for care.

This story was originally published January 23, 2018 at 1:23 PM with the headline "He bit the puppy and vowed to kill it, police say. Now he’s in jail."