LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport Police Department said Tuesday that it has arrested a city resident after it was discovered he had killed his small dog with a machete.
William Richard Gatlyn, 27, was taken into custody on Tuesday morning, according to a report from Chief Brad Rasmussen.
At 10:30 a.m. a Lakeport Police officer and a Lake County Sheriff's deputy responded to the 70 block of Lily Cove Avenue to investigate a report of a man who witnesses said was threatening to cut up his dog and kill people with a machete, Rasmussen reported.
Rasmussen said the officer and deputy found the man, identified as Gatlyn, standing on the steps to the entryway of an apartment complex at the Lily Cove Avenue location.
Gatlyn was uncooperative and refused to walk off the steps and talk with the officers. Rasmussen said Gatlyn also attempted to reach into his pants pocket, at which point the officer and deputy physically restrained and handcuffed him for their safety.
Rasmussen said the officer and deputy then entered Gatlyn's apartment unit to clear it and located a deceased brown Chihuahua, with a machete lying across its body, on the living room floor. The dog had multiple deep lacerations on its body.
Additional Lakeport Police officers responded to conduct an investigation. Rasmussen said the officers also requested assistance from Lake County Animal Care and Control, which sent an officer to assist.
Lakeport Police officers arrested Gatlyn for felony animal cruelty and transported him to the Lake County Correctional Facility, where he was booked, Rasmussen said.
Rasmussen said Lake County Animal Care and Control took possession of the dog’s body, which was transported to the animal control facility in Lakeport for further investigation.
Gatlyn has prior arrests for battery, burglary, trespassing, public intoxication and being under the influence of a controlled substance, Rasmussen said.
Rasmussen said the investigation, involving both the Lakeport Police Department and Lake County Animal Care and Control, is ongoing.