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A man wanted by the SPCA on allegations he strangled a sick dog to death in Wilkes-Barre was captured in Florida.
Dennis Joseph Blanchette, 27, was apprehended Monday by Boynton Beach police in Palm Beach County on fugitive from justice warrants from Pennsylvania, according to the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office.
Blanchette is jailed at the Main Detention Center in West Palm Beach, Fla., awaiting an extradition hearing.
Blanchette, last known address as Penn Street, Kingston, is facing a host of charges in Luzerne County, most notably by the SPCA for allegedly strangling a sick 3-year-old Husky-mix to death on South Meade Street in Wilkes-Barre on Aug. 19.
A humane officer recovered the dog from a shallow grave behind the South Meade Street home on Aug. 22, according to court records.
Court records say Blanchette took the sick dog for help at the SPCA where the dog vomited in the lobby. Blanchett was told to take the dog to a veterinary hospital but had no money to pay for its care.
Blanchette admitted to strangling the dog that struggled for one to two minutes before it died, court records say.
A humane officer initially charged Blanchette on Sept. 9 with felony and misdemeanor animal cruelty offenses but the case was dismissed by a district judge at a preliminary hearing Sept. 19.
Blanchette reportedly received death threats due to publicity of the dog incident.
After a second criminal complaint was dismissed due to a legal technicality, the SPCA filed a third complaint against Blanchette on Nov. 21.
Blanchette left the area sometime before the SPCA filed the complaint in November.
Blanchette is also wanted by Plymouth police on charges of robbery, criminal conspiracy, simple assault and theft for his alleged role in an armed robbery on Willow Street on July 20, and by state police on allegations he forged and cashed a missing check at a credit union in Kingston on Sept. 26, according to court records.