An Atlanta man faces animal cruelty charges after allegedly placing a Yorkie in a cardboard box Friday morning and setting it on fire.
Officers responded to the intersection of Ponce De Leon Place and Virginia Circle about 9 a.m. after receiving a call about a suspicious package that appeared to be smoldering in a storm drain, Atlanta police Sgt. John Chafee said.
Inside the box, police found a small Yorkie that was dead with a cord around its neck, Chafee said. Officers determined the box had been placed in the drain and set on fire.
The Atlanta Police Department’s animal cruelty investigators spoke to several witnesses who said they saw a man carrying the box in the area just before the fire, Chafee said. One witness told officers they saw the man trying to light the box on fire.
The suspect, identified by police as 29-year-old Jessie Collins, was arrested Friday afternoon when police were dispatched to Drewry Street in northeast Atlanta about a suspicion person. He was charged with one count of cruelty to animals.
Collins is being held at the Fulton County Jail on a $2,500 bond, jail records show. His booking photo wasn’t immediately available Saturday afternoon.
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