June 22--A Tuolumne County man was arrested over the weekend after he allegedly grabbed a cat by the tail and slammed it into the ground, killing it, police said Monday.
The manager of a Sonora apartment complex called police Friday after watching surveillance camera footage that showed the incident, the Sonora Police Department said in a statement.
Authorities say the surveillance video captured Spencer Morse, 19, of Sonora, pulling up to the complex in the 200 block of Greenley Road shortly after 11 p.m. on June 15. He allegedly exited the vehicle, grabbed a cat by the tail, swung the cat over his head and slammed it to the ground, police said. The cat died of its injuries.
After someone reported seeing Morse's vehicle in a Wal-Mart parking lot, police arrested him Saturday as he returned to his vehicle.
In an interview with police, Morse, who has no prior criminal history, admitted killing the cat. He told officers that another cat had bitten him on the finger a week earlier and that he drove to the apartment complex wanting to find and harm a cat.
Morse was arrested on suspicion of felony animal cruelty and booked into the Tuolumne County Jail.
