Vindicator learns abused kitten survived

Staff report

WARREN

It took some work, but The Vindicator has learned that a kitten named Rajay, captured on video being violently slammed into a dresser several times by a 26-year-old Masury woman, survived the attack.

Warren police investigated claims by Jessica Scharba’s ex-boyfriend in January that she slammed the kitten into a dresser and then “violently” threw it against a window “as hard as she could” while having an argument with the man.

Police viewed a cellphone video the man took of the incident and found his claims to be true. Scharba, who was charged with animal cruelty, has been sent by a Warren judge for an evaluation to determine her mental state.

The Warren police report of the incident did not indicate what happened to the kitten after the incident other than that it was found on the floor. The police department’s spokesman and other supervisors said they didn’t know what happened to the kitten.

Assistant Prosecutor Nick Graham, who is prosecuting the case against Scharba, asked an assistant in his office to leave a message for the officer involved, who works the midnight shift.

She was able to learn that the kitten survived and apparently suffered no broken bones or other significant injury, but it’s still not known where the kitten is. When Scharba was contacted by The Vindicator in January, she refused to talk about it.

Scharba is under orders to have no contact with any animal.