ST. GEORGE — A Santa Clara man has been charged with aggravated cruelty to an animal after reportedly inflicting serious pain on a puppy at an apartment complex last week.
The arrest stems from an investigation that began Sept. 13, when officers were dispatched to an apartment complex in Santa Clara on a disturbance involving a dog.
According to the probable cause statement filed in support of the arrest, officers arrived to find a woman, wearing a sweater with blood on it, with a dog in the parking lot of the complex.
Santa Clara-Ivins Police Sgt. Reed Briggs told St. George News the animal, a 4-month-old goldendoodle, which is a cross between a golden retriever and a poodle, was bleeding from injuries sustained during the incident – which included a chipped tooth.
Officers at the scene spoke to a witness who reported seeing a man throw a woman’s dog against the wall. Shortly after, the owner took her dog and left the apartment.
Earlier that day, the woman arrived at the complex with her dog to visit her boyfriend, one of the tenants of the apartment complex in Santa Clara.
Police say during the visit, the suspect, later identified as 33-year-old Alejandro Castillo, told the woman that dogs were not allowed at the apartment complex and then grabbed the puppy around the neck and threw it against the wall.
The officer also noted the suspect’s actions inflicted “extreme physical pain” upon the animal, that Briggs said was taken to one of the local veterinarians for treatment.
Following the incident, the Castillo allegedly sent texts to an individual telling them to make sure the incident was not reported to police.
Officers collected photographs and other evidence while processing the scene but were unable to make contact with the suspect until three days later when they found Castillo at his residence on Friday morning, the report states.
Castillo was arrested and transported to Purgatory Correctional Facility where he was booked into jail facing two third-degree felony charges, including one count of torture of a companion animal and one count of tampering with a witness.
Jail records indicate Castillo was released on conditions later that evening with a promise to appear.
On Monday, Castillo was formally charged with aggravated cruelty to an animal, a third-degree felony, as well as the witness tampering charge.
The report also stated the suspect was on probation on a drug and credit card case filed last year when the incident took place. Castillo appeared for sentencing on the case in May, where he was placed on 18 months of probation on the misdemeanor drug charges, while the felony financial card charges were dismissed.
Also in May, a protective order was filed against the suspect in an unrelated case, and the following month, Castillo was arrested and charged with violating the order by police. That case is still pending in the courts.
This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
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