Police in Florida have arrested a man accused of shooting and killing another man’s dog during an attempted robbery last week.
Tampa Police Chief Mary O’Connor said during a news conference Thursday that 17-year-old Jayden Harris was arrested in the shooting last Friday during a robbery in which both victims’ dachshunds were given shot and one died. WTVT-TV reported.
The outlet reported that Geovanni Ruiz was walking his two dachshunds, both 7 years old, when a man approached him at gunpoint demanding money.
The man fired his gun about five times into the ground and both dogs were hit by bullets.
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Jayden Harris, 17, was arrested for allegedly shooting two dogs and killing one during an attempted robbery.
(Tampa Bay Police Department)
Ruiz says he picked up his two dogs and fled as the man continued to fire several more shots in his direction.
Ruiz then rushed to an emergency vet where her dog Bamby survived, but her other dog, Jacob, died from his gunshot wounds.
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The downtown Tampa skyline.
(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Police say they reviewed surveillance footage and identified Harris as a passenger in an SUV that had been circling the block.
Harris was arrested hours after the shooting on a warrant for an unrelated robbery, but was released on bail two days later because police were unaware at the time of his possible involvement in Ruiz’s attempted robbery.
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Stock photo of Jayden Harris from the Tampa Bay Police Department.
(Tampa Bay Police Department)
Ruiz identified Harris as the culprit when he was shown a photo, at which point authorities arrested Harris and charged him with aggravated assault, robbery with a firearm, aggravated assault with a firearm, two counts of aggravated animal cruelty, and misdemeanor in possession of a firearm. .
“When we showed the photo to the victim, he collapsed and immediately identified him,” O’Connor said.
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Tampa police say Harris will be tried as an adult despite being 17 years old.
“We took a ruthless criminal off the streets,” O’Connor said.
