LARGO - A suspect who alllegedly killed a cat and placed it in a grease dumpster in the early morning of Feb. 12 has been charged with cruelty to animals.
Largo police said the suspect, identified as Matthew J. Selk, 22. who lives in an apartment complex on Belcher Road, became upset with his girlfriend's 2-year-old Siamese cat. A roommate heard the suspect punching the cat before he placed it in a back pack.
The suspect left and returned to the apartment without the cat. The suspect's girlfriend arrived home from work, discovered blood everywhere in her bedroom and two bloody knives, police said.
The girlfriend confronted the suspect, who admitted that he killed the cat, police said. She called the police as the suspect left the apartment. A perimeter was set up as a K-9 officer and his K-9 partner responded and started a track. An officer noticed the suspect walking from the rear of the Outback and stopped him inside of Winding Lane Apartments.
Officers conducted an area search for the cat but had negative results. The suspect advised that the cat was dead and that he had placed it into the grease dumpster in the rear of the Outback Restaurant. A search of the grease dumpster produced no results, and then the suspect hinted that he may have dismembered it. However, he would not tell the officers where it was.
Selk was booked into county jail on $10,000 bond. The case is a felony.
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