The suspect (left) pictured in a video shared by authorities in the act of stomping on the pit bull’s neck, (right inset) in a booking photo (Lee County Sheriff’s Office)
A sheriff’s office in Florida is making an example of a 20-year-old dog owner who was recorded by a Good Samaritan stomping on his 9-month-old pit bull’s neck in broad daylight as the suspect walked the canine down a sidewalk in Fort Myers.
Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno identified Beckham McLeod as the animal abuser during a Wednesday press conference, sharing details of the incident that appalled locals one day earlier.
Marceno said his deputies and detectives responded to the scene at approximately 5 p.m. on Tuesday. As a Facebook reel posted by the sheriff’s office shows, the sheriff ripped into McLeod while sharing some video footage of the lead-up to the stomping. The suspect was walking the dog at the time and someone else was standing right next to him watching the animal abuse unfold.
The top law enforcement officer said that when deputies arrived, McLeod acted like he had employed normal disciplinary methods.
“What, I can’t reprimand my dog?” McLeod allegedly said.
Clearly, that was the wrong question to ask, as authorities made a point to film a nighttime perp walk once McLeod was in handcuffs.
Beckham McLeod perp walk (Lee County Sheriff’s Office)
Jail records reviewed by Law&Crime show that McLeod was booked just after 4 a.m. on Wednesday.
In remarks, the sheriff called McLeod a “pile of trash.”
Crediting a Good Samaritan for calling 911 and recording the abuse, Marceno said the caller filmed McLeod “violently beating his dog, King.”
“While on the phone with our dispatchers, our witness began recording,” the sheriff said. “This pile of trash drags King, stomps on his neck twice, and then kicks him directly in the face. McLeod continues to forcefully pull King with the leash before kicking hi in the chest, again.”
“While the recording may have stopped, I fear what King went through before and after,” he added.
The sheriff said that McLeod was charged with aggravated animal cruelty.
Under Florida law, this crime is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years behind bars upon conviction and/or a fine of $10,000.
“A person who intentionally commits an act to any animal, or a person who owns or has the custody or control of any animal and fails to act, which results in the cruel death, or excessive or repeated infliction of unnecessary pain or suffering, or causes the same to be done, commits aggravated animal cruelty,” the law says.
Marceno vowed he “will do everything in my power to make absolute certain” McLeod “will not own another animal.” King, the sheriff said, was treated for neck bruising and removed from McLeod’s residence.
“The video shows he suffered unnecessary pain and fear at the hands of his owner but should make a full recovery. McLeod surrendered King who will remain in the case of DAS [Domestic Animal Services] until he gets a loving home,” he said.
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