Texas officials arrested a man Thursday after they said he assaulted his roommate who he accused of killing their dog, according to an arrest affidavit.
Police arrested Derek Sweitzer, 25, though he was the person who called police initially, and charged him with assault with injury strangulation -- a third-degree felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Police responded Thursday to a disturbance call in the 8200 block of RM 620 in far Northwest Austin, where Sweitzer told police he was concerned because he hadn't seen his dog, Arya, a Chihuahua, the affidavit said.
It said that Sweitzer’s roommate, who is the owner of the dog, told Sweitzer he couldn’t find the dog and he was feeling suicidal, according to the arrest affidavit. Worried that his roommate might have done something to the dog, Sweitzer said he looked through the dumpsters near their apartment and found Arya’s body, according to the affidavit.
“Sweitzer said he became very upset when he found Arya dead,” the affidavit said. “Sweitzer said he did push and pull (his roommate, causing him) to fall down and hit the dumpster.” Sweitzer said his roommate admitted to killing the dog, according to the document.
Sweitzer admitted to pinning his roommate down but denied choking him, the affidavit said. The victim told police Sweitzer choked him so he couldn’t breathe and that his vision became blurry, the document said. Police noted in the affidavit that the roommate had “obvious injuries on his face.”
When asked how Arya died, the roommate told police he’d stepped on the dog by accident.
Sweitzer was taken to the Travis County Jail, with bail set at $10,000, according to the affidavit.
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