Authorities say an Orange County man believes more than a dozen neighbor cats were killed after police lured them into his property.
Over the course of weeks, the Santa Ana Police Department has received multiple reports of suspected animal cruelty and missing cats.
Alejandro Oliveros Acosta, 45, of Santa Ana, was arrested Wednesday and booked at the Santa Ana City Jail on felony charges related to animal cruelty, authorities said.
Yesenia Aspetia, media relations coordinator for the Santa Ana Police Department, said officials could not provide the exact number of cats believed to have been hurt by the suspect, but that was more than 12.
Authorities allege Acosta was actively identified as the man who separated the cat from the house by several victims and witnesses.
Santa Ana and Westminster Police Department officials, along with Santa Ana’s animal control department, searched Acosta’s home in the 2300 block of West Wilshire Avenue on Wednesday morning to detain him. Aspeitia said the department could not provide additional information regarding evidence collected from the home.
Investigators are currently gathering timelines for alleged cases, Aspeitia said. Officials are incorporated into accounts of stolen or missing cats, combining local social media groups with formal reports made to the department over weeks.
Local cat owners in recent weeks have shared photos on social media of the missing cat and share security footage of the house showing a man seducing her from her home.
Among them was Eva Koleu of Westminster. He posted that her 10-month-old Bengali Lynx cat, Clubbar, was stolen from her driveway in March. According to the Westminster Police Department, the club bar was eventually reunited with Koleu.
Aspeitia confirmed that Acosta is being investigated regarding Clubber’s aid.
Anyone with information regarding this incident will be asked to contact S. Guzman at (714) 245-8416 or sguzman@santa-an.org (714) 245-8416 (714).
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