Turtle doused in gasoline, set on fire, stabbed - Bellport, NY

Saturday, May 22, 2010

County: Suffolk

Disposition: Alleged

Alleged:
» Thomas Clark Gorman
» Roark Xanthos

Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

Suffolk County Police have arrested two teenagers after they tortured and killed a large snapper turtle in Bellport.

Roark Xanthos, 18, and Thomas Gorman, 18, took a 12 pound snapper turtle that they had found on the side of the road into the backyard of a residence at Circuit Road in Bellport on May 22.

The teens then placed the turtle in a makeshift fire pit they made with rocks from the yard, doused it with gasoline and set it on fire while it was still alive. After burning the turtle, the teens killed it by stabbing it through its shell with a long metal pole.

A necropsy performed on the turtle also found that it was covered in melted plastic, leading Sgt. Bryan McMenemy of the Suffolk Police Fifth Squad to believe they left the turtle in a milk crate when they set it on fire.

Suffolk County Police Fifth Squad detectives arrested Xanthos, 18, of 20 Bellview Ave., Bellport on June 11, and Gorman, of 320 Bayview Ave., East Patchogue, on June 12. Both were charged with Animal Cruelty and Criminal Trespass 3rd Degree. Xanthos and Gorman will appear in First District Court in Central Islip at a later date.

Case Updates

A man from East Patchogue, N.Y., was jailed Saturday after an early-morning fight in a Penn State University Park dormitory, university police reported. The New York man, identified as Thomas Clark Gorman, was arraigned on charges of aggravated assault, simple assault and harassment, according to a university police log. Police said he was jailed in the Centre County Correctional Facility in lieu of posting $75,000 straight bail. It was not immediately clear Sunday whether Gorman remained in the correctional facility, and additional details were scarce early Sunday afternoon. The only Thomas Clark Gorman from East Patchogue listed in Penn State's public online directory is an undergraduate student who lives in Hamilton Hall, an on-campus residence. He's also listed as a freshman wrestler for Cael Sanderson's national championship team. According to the university police log, officers responded about 3 a.m. Saturday to a first-floor fight in Hamilton Hall. One person was apprehended soon thereafter near the Information Sciences and Technology Building, according to the log. That person, whose name was not released early Sunday, was taken to Mount Nittany Medical Center, police said. A second person, listed as Gorman, was apprehended inside Hamilton Hall and later arraigned on the assault and harassment charges, according to the log. Messages left with a number of sources, including a Penn State athletics spokesman, were not immediately answered Sunday. A separate media report found by OnwardState.com shows that a Thomas Gorman of East Patchogue, N.Y., was charged with animal cruelty in 2010. Source: onwardstate.com - Mar 27, 2011 Update posted on Mar 28, 2011 - 10:08AM

References

• « NY State Animal Cruelty Map
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