Case Report

Hai Van Tang, 30, is accused of cruelty to animals and criminal trespass. He was arrested around 5 a.m. Monday inside a Waffle House at 2507 Pentee Road, south of Gainesville near U.S. 129 and Monroe Drive for carrying the bloodied carcass of a dog to a Waffle House and leave it on a sidewalk while he went inside for coffee

Scott Allison, restaurant manager, said Tang walked in covered with blood.

Rick Phillips, supervisor with Hall County Animal Control, said officers were called to remove the dog, which had been skinned and impaled through its head with a PVC pipe.

A Hall County Detention Center spokeswoman said Tang, who does not speak English, was released Monday on his own recognizance. He is scheduled to appear at 8:30 a.m. Oct. 22 in State Court.

A detention center spokeswoman said Tang is only under a verbal promise to appear in court.

Around 5 a.m. Monday, employees of the restaurant called police when Tang refused to leave.

Sgt. Jeff Johnson said, "(Tang) went inside and ordered a cup of coffee. He had no money to pay. They asked him to leave. He refused."

Johnson said Tang, who arrived on foot and apparently is homeless, used a urinal in the restaurant's bathroom to wash his clothes.

Johnson said officers found the man seated in a booth without a shirt. They also found the dog.

"(Tang) was obviously not in his right mind," Allison said. "I would like to think he had some type of problem."

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