In a particularly gruesome story, Joseph Nelson, an 18-year-old Grand Junction, Colo. resident, has been accused of mutilating his mother's dog and hanging it from a bridge.
According to an arrest affidavit, on August 15, Grand Junction Police found a medium-sized dog covered in blood hanging from a bridge after a witness reported it. Officers responded to find a blood-smeared sidewalk and a collar-less dog missing its left eyeball.
The Grand Junction Sentinel reports the responding officer recalled a report from the previous night where two boys were found with bloody hands and clothes, in possession of pocket knives. However, both said they had cut themselves on a bottle and the police let them go. It remains unclear if the blood on their hands and clothes belonged to that of the dog.
When officers later spoke with Nelson's friend, the man who was with Nelson when officers first contacted the duo the night before, he said Nelson became enraged after being contacted by the police that night. The affidavit says Nelson proceeded to smash the windows on his mother's cars, then picked up DeMayo -- his mother's 3-year-old jack russel terrier mix -- put a leash on him, and swung him around the shed a dozen times.
NBC11 reports Nelson kicked the dog several times, smashed a bike on him, and dragged away the body on DeMayo's leash. Nelson's friend said he attempted to stop Nelson, but Nelson pushed the man and kicked him in the ribs.
DeMayo's owner, Nelson's mother, told police she wants to file charges against her son. He faces charges for two counts of aggravated cruelty to animals and one count of a minor in possession of alcohol. His mother told investigators her son is "heavily involved" in methamphetamines.