A Florida man was out fishing, cops say. He got ‘angry’ when a blue heron ate his bait
A Florida man was arrested Sunday night after a fishing trip went terribly wrong.
According to an arrest affidavit from the Port St. Lucie Police Department, officers responded to a domestic disturbance call around 10:30 p.m.
Cops made contact with a woman who said she had been in an argument with her husband, Fritz Eugene, 67, and that her husband had “violent tendencies” and had killed a bird in front of their children.
She said was “fearful” because he said “he knew people who would take care of her.”
The woman showed cops a graphic image of the slain bird, a federally protected Florida blue heron, that she had found on her daughter’s phone, said the police report.
When cops spoke with the daughter, she told them when Eugene picked her up from school he had the bird with him. The animal was “still alive at this point but had a broken leg,” said the complaint.
The suspect reportedly told his kids that he captured the bird because he was “angry” it was eating his bait. Authorities believe the animal was OK when first snatched, but Eugene injured it while grabbing it.
The report says that Eugene drove to his sister’s house, where he cut the bird’s leg off and slit its throat in front of his son, who became “distraught.”
Ages of the children were not released.
Based on the cellphone image and witness statements, Eugene was arrested and charged with one count of aggravated cruelty to a conservation animal involving pain, suffering, and death, as well as one count of cruelty towards a child — abuse without great bodily harm.
As per court records, the defendant was released on $7,500 bond.
