Ducklings allegedly intentionally mowed down with lawnmower
Middleburg, FL (US)Incident Date: Friday, Aug 12, 2011
County: Clay
Charges: Felony CTA
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Mark Preston Akers
A 29-year-old Clay County Public Works employee has been placed on administrative leave after being arrested and charged with mutilating four ducklings with a lawn mower attachment.
Jennifer Bethelmy, a county Human Resources department coordinator, said that Mark Preston Akers of Middleburg, a Department of Public Works employee since March of 2000, has been placed on paid leave until an internal investigation is completed.
Akers was arrested on Wednesday, Aug. 17, five days after a witness reported seeing him use the lawnmower he was operating to chase down a mother duck and four ducklings on a county right of way adjacent to the Orange Park South subdivision, according to a Clay County Sheriff's Office report.
The report also states that the property already had been mowed, and that a witness told investigators that Aker "intentionally chased a mother duck and her seven ducklings" before mutilating four of the ducklings by lowering the brush cutter attached to his mower.
The witness also claimed that Aker appeared to be smiling and gave a thumbs-up sign after running over the ducklings. A second witness told sheriff's deputies that Akers bragged about his actions, according to the report.
Board of County Commissioners chairman Travis Cummings described the allegations as "horrible," and that he is confident County Manager Stephanie Kopelousos and her staff will conduct a "thorough investigation" before further action is taken.
"We'll see what happens," Cummings said.
Kopelousos declined to comment on the case because the internal investigation has been initiated.
Akers is facing a third degree felony charge of animal abuse. He has been released from the Clay County Jail after posting a $753 cash bond. References |
