LOWELL — A Lawrence woman was arraigned on two counts of animal cruelty in Lowell District Court on Tuesday, in an incident that was caught on security cameras the morning of Dec. 29 at 127-133 Westford St.
Kimberly Hernandez, 30, pleaded not guilty before Judge John Coffey on Jan. 2, for allegedly hitting, kicking and throwing a Yorkie dog named Rex. Coffey released Hernandez on a $5,000 cash or surety bail, and she was ordered to surrender any other pets she owns and to have no unsupervised contact with any animals.
The Lowell Police Criminal Investigations Bureau conducted the investigation on Dec. 30, based on a call that day by the Westford Street property manager. According to police records, while reviewing footage of a previous car accident, the manager discovered footage showing a woman approach the cowering dog and violently attack it.
In the arrest report, Detective Andrew Sepe described the footage from one of the three security videos of the alleged 2 a.m. incident obtained by police.
“The dog rolls over before getting up and continuing to cower,” the police report stated. “The female strikes the dog a second time with her right foot which was hard enough to thrust the dog up into the air and into the side of the building.”
A third video that same morning allegedly shows the woman remove the dog by the neck from the back of a parked car, “with its body hanging,” according to the police report. The car was registered to a resident of one of the apartments in the complex.
“The female is then seen again violently throwing the dog,” Sepe wrote.
Detectives, accompanied by an animal control officer, observed the female resident of that apartment and owner of the car, outside with the dog. She was identified by her brother as the alleged suspect in the videos, placed under arrest and transported to the station for booking.
Animal Control took custody of Rex and transported him to Westford Animal Hospital for a medical evaluation.
According to police documents, within minutes of the woman arriving at the station, Hernandez turned herself in at the police headquarters on Arcand Drive, and claimed responsibility for the alleged attack on the animal. The Westford Street resident was immediately released from custody, The women, who police reports describe as “best friends,” also are “strikingly similar in appearance,” and the brother’s identification led police to reasonably believe his sister — and not Hernandez — was the offender, stated the police report.
After reading Hernandez her Miranda rights, which she waived, according to the report, Hernandez admitted to detectives that she was the person seen in the videos striking Rex.
Hernandez blamed the alleged abuse on drinking and personal issues, “causing her to take her aggression out on the dog,” Sepe wrote.
She was placed under arrest for cruelty to animals and escorted to the cell block for booking.
Hernandez is scheduled to return to Lowell District Court for a pretrial hearing on Feb. 9. Each count of animal cruelty carries a penalty of up to seven years in state prison; or up to two and a half years in the House of Correction; or a fine of up to $5,000; or both fine and imprisonment.