Masury woman accused of hurting kitten to be evaluated

Staff report

WARREN

Jessica R. Scharba, 26, who police said slammed a kitten’s head on a dresser and threw it against a window last month, appeared in court Friday on a charge of animal cruelty and will receive an evaluation to determine her mental state.

Scharba, of North State Line Road in Masury, will return for another hearing in Warren Municipal Courtt at 10:15 a.m. April 24, after the evaluation has been completed and recommendations are made for any treatment she may need.

When she was arraigned on the misdemeanor charge Jan. 12, Magistrate Dan Gerin ordered her to have no contact with the kitten, named Rajay. In court Friday, Judge Terry Ivanchak ordered her to have contact with no animals. Scharba remains free on a personal-recognizance bond.

Police were called to an apartment on Fifth Street Southwest at 3:30 a.m. Jan. 11 for a disturbance involving Scharba and her ex-boyfriend.

When officers arrived, Scharba claimed the ex-boyfriend choked her, but the officer found no marks on her or other signs of assault.

Scharba asked the police officer to get her kitten from behind the dresser and accused the ex-boyfriend of throwing the kitten there.

But the man said he tried to leave the apartment, and Scharba blocked his path to the rear door, which he recorded on his cellphone and showed to police.

The video also shows her swinging her fist at him to keep him from leaving, police said.

Also captured on video was Scharba grabbing the kitten by the neck and then yelling and screaming that she’ll do anything to keep him from leaving the house, police said.

“At which time she slammed the kitten’s head on the dresser several times that was in the living room,” the police report said.

“The video then shows Jessica violently throwing the kitten against the window as hard as she could, causing the baby kitten to fall behind the dresser,” police said in a report.