43
Cops: Man gives kitten brain damage
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Police say a South Side man was jailed after he repeatedly threw a kitten in the street, purportedly causing it to suffer brain damage.
Stephen Hogan, 24, of West Indianola Avenue, was arraigned in municipal court Friday on charges of criminal damaging and injuring animals.
Police were called to a home in the 700 block of West Indianola Avenue about 8:45 p.m. Thursday that Hogan listed as his address for a report of a woman whose car windows were smashed out and tires slashed.
Reports said the woman told police she had lived there with Hogan but had left and had come back to check on her car, which she left in the driveway. When police arrived at the home, Hogan was not there, reports said.
Police found a man matching Hogan’s description on Glenwood Avenue, and reports said when they approached him, he put his hands behind his back and leaned on the hood of the cruiser and told officers to arrest him.
Back on his street, witnesses told police a man matching Hogan’s description was throwing a kitten into the street repeatedly. Humane agents were called after police found an injured kitten in a vehicle in the driveway, reports said, and they removed two other kittens and a cat from the home.
Reports said the humane agent told officers the injured kitten appeared to have suffered brain damage.
Before he was taken to jail, Hogan was ramming his head into a divider in a cruiser, reports said.
Hogan was arraigned Friday before Municipal Judge Robert Milich. He was released from the Mahoning County jail after posting bond. He pleaded not guilty to both charges and has a preliminary hearing set for July 1.