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WILKES-BARRE — A man who city police allege tossed two cats from the top floor of a Parkview Circle high-rise was arraigned Thursday afternoon.
Tyquan Hinds, 22, of Parkview Circle, Wilkes-Barre, appeared before District Judge Thomas Malloy in Wilkes-Barre on two counts of aggravated cruelty to animals. He was jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $20,000 bail.
Police obtained an arrest warrant for Hinds on Monday.
According to the criminal complaint:
A property manager reported to city police that a tenant threw two cats along with a litter box, a vacuum and a bag of trash out an eighth floor window at Parkview Circle in the Sherman Hills apartment complex on May 30.
An orange cat was found dead on the ground, and a man picked up a black and grey mixed cat that was injured but alive.
A police officer and an animal enforcement officer were directed to another section of the building where they encountered Hinds, who initially identified himself using a false name.
Hinds escorted the two officers to an apartment on the eighth floor where the injured cat was located.
Police noted the cat appeared to be in severe distress, and had labored breathing and a bloody mouth.
Hinds claimed he gave the cat a bath.
When an officer got closer, Hinds allegedly said, “If you pull out those cuffs, I’m going to have an allergic reaction,” the complaint says.
Two women were in the apartment, identified as Janet Yates and her daughter, Jaana McCormick, Hinds’ girlfriend.
McCormick told the officers she didn’t have any cats in her apartment.
Police said the window had no screen and observed the dead orange cat lying on the ground directly in line of the window.
After leaving the apartment with the injured cat, officers said they were told by a tenant that the black and grey cat lived in McCormick’s apartment.
Police said the injured cat was taken to the Plains Animal Hospital, where it had to be euthanized due to its multiple traumatic injuries.