Dog beaten to death
Cleburne, TX (US)Incident Date: Sunday, Jul 22, 2007
County: Johnson
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Gary Wayne Hicks
Police arrested a man on a charge of animal cruelty July 22 after witnesses saw him beat his dog to death, according to police reports.
Police responded to the parking lot of CiCi's Pizza on West Henderson Street after receiving word that Gary Wayne Hicks, 44, of Cleburne was beating a dog with his fists.
Callers to police said the dog left the scene, and Hicks was later carrying the dead dog.
Officer Kimberly Stieber and other officers arrived about 9:50 p.m. to find Hicks standing beside a black pickup with the dog in the truck's bed.
Several officers recognized the dog as Chopper, Hicks' dog. Hicks and Chopper were known to walk around Cleburne and were familiar to several police officers, according to reports. Chopper, a pit bull mix, was known to be friendly and was seen walking around town with Hicks, usually unleashed. He would wait outside when Hicks went in a store.
Hicks told Stieber a car hit Chopper when she noted that blood was running from his mouth and he was not breathing. Officers arrested Hicks on a charge of animal cruelty based on witness statements and after finding no evidence in the road or on Chopper consistent with having been hit by a car.
Two witnesses who had been eating at King Buffet, next to Cici's, told police they saw Hicks beat Chopper with his fists on his head and body repeatedly. Both said Hicks would call Chopper back and begin beating him again when he ran away. At least five beatings occurred before Chopper ran around the building's east side and Hicks followed, they said.
Hicks returned shortly after, according to reports, carrying Chopper by the neck and laid him on a bench in front of Cici's. Hicks later placed the dog in the bed of a pickup that another man arrived in. Additional witnesses confirmed Hick's actions.
Cleburne Animal Control removed Chopper for safekeeping until he can be sent to Texas A&M University for an autopsy.
Hicks made an unsolicited comment captured on the police car's video while en route to the Johnson County Corrections Center, according to the police report.
"I didn't mean to. I have just been frustrated because I've been out on the street," Hicks is quoted as saying in the police report.
Bail has not been set for Hicks, and he remains in custody at the jail. References« TX State Animal Cruelty Map
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