37-year-old Roosevelt Jr. Lockhart of Palm Bay, Florida, was arrested on
Sunday, after police said he broke the legs of a dog when his daughter
said that it bit her, police said.
The incident occurred around 9:35 a.m. The dog’s owner, Justin Lord,
told police that his brother, threw the dog to the floor and kicked it,
according to the police report.
When agents interviewed Lockhart, he said that he was angry when his
5-year-old daughter told him that the 20-pound Dachshund mix dog bit
her.
Police said that Lockhart told officers that it was “just an overreaction and I kicked the s*** out of the dog.”
A witness told investigators that his uncle, Lockhart, grabbed and
slammed the dog into the ground. While the dog remained lying on the
ground, he kicked it.
While officers were on the scene, a woman brought the dog out of the
residence and tried to get it to stand up, according to police.
“It was evident by the dog’s inability to stand on all its legs and the
way it was shaking that it sustained significant injuries as a result of
being slammed on the ground,” the report said.
Lockhart was arrested and charged with animal cruelty.
Animal control workers took custody of the dog because the family is
unable to afford to pay for the medical care it needs as a result of the
attack.