Police are searching for a man who allegedly smashed his puppy's skull with a baseball bat and tossed the still-living animal in a Dumpster, apparently because the dog had gotten into a fight with a neighbor's pet.
Tracy Tanks, 36, is wanted on a misdemeanor charge of cruelty to an animal and a felony count of reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon. He faces six-months to three years in prison for the latter count.
On Saturday, a chow-mix dog belonging to Tanks' live-in girlfriend wandered into his neighbor's yard, where it started fighting with the neighbor's dog. When Tanks tried to separate the animals, the neighbor's dog bit him on the leg.
Tanks responded by retrieving a baseball bat from his house, but his neighbor stopped the dogfight without force. When the neighbor picked up Tanks' dog to hand it to him, Tanks allegedly brought his bat down on the animal, narrowly missing his neighbor.
"It was in the neighbor's hands when he took the baseball bat and literally knocked it out of the neighbor's hands," said Sgt Paul Ciesielski, a spokesman for the Indianapolis Police Department.
Dog lingered for 48 hours.
Tanks allegedly continued beating the dog, named Froady, before throwing him in a nearby Dumpster.
Froady lingered there for 48 hours in freezing weather, with several skull fractures and a broken jaw.
Two days later, a neighbor called the police, who arrived to find Froady still conscious. He was put to sleep by the city's animal control authorities.
Police continue to search for Tanks, who has since left his home and have not shown up for work. He is described as a black male, 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighing 178 pounds, with balding brown hair and dark-brown eyes.
Prosecutors have filed an arrest warrant against Tanks with a $100,000 bond. Tanks has a record of alcohol-related arrests stretching back to 1988, according to the Marion County Prosecuting Attorney's Office.
"He has some anger problems, some potential for violence," Ciesielski said. "I don't know I'd characterize him as dangerous, but I wouldn't encourage anyone to make any citizen arrests." References | APBnews.com - Feb 1, 2000 |
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