It was an abhorrent sight that spurred the kind of outrage animal abuse tends to draw: a white and brown bull terrier, partially submerged in a grassy water pool, its neck tethered to a wire fence beside a busy interstate. The trembling canine growled and barked when a Florida Highway Patrol trooper approached it last week, hours before Hurricane Milton tore through the Tampa Bay area.
Amid the storm’s ensuing devastation, there came calls for justice for the dog, appropriately renamed Trooper. Those calls caught the notice of Gov. Ron DeSantis, who announced an arrest in the case during an appearance Tuesday at Hillsborough County’s Falkenburg Road Jail.
Giovanny Aldama Garcia, 23, was booked in jail Monday on a charge of aggravated cruelty to animals. DeSantis mentioned the arrest almost in passing during a news conference in which he exchanged words of praise with local law enforcement officials and discussed efforts to financially support first responders affected by the storm. Hillsborough State Attorney Suzy Lopez stood with him.
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“When this poor dog was left out there,” DeSantis said, “We said … we’re going to nail you when we find out who did it. And that’s exactly what they’re doing here in Hillsborough County with State Attorney Lopez.”
Lopez, who owns two bulldogs — one of whom she named Rhonda Santis in honor of the governor — promised stiff consequences. “You don’t get away with doing what this man did in Hillsborough County,” she said. “Not under my watch.”
Aldama Garcia, 23, was released from jail early Tuesday on a $2,500 cash bond. An arrest affidavit details an investigation that began with a call to the Highway Patrol last Wednesday morning as Hurricane Milton was hours away from tearing through the Tampa Bay area.
A woman reported that the dog was tied to a fence along the right shoulder of the northbound side of Interstate 75, south of Bruce B. Downs Boulevard. Trooper Orlando Morales drove to the area and began calling for the dog over a portable speaker. About a quarter-mile south of the exit, he saw the dog’s head pop up, the report states.
Video footage that the Highway Patrol later posted to social media shows the dog standing near the roadside in a pool of water up to its chest. He noticed fresh tire marks in the grass nearby. The dog trembled, growled and barked as Morales approached.
“I don’t blame you,” the trooper told the dog.
The dog ended up in an animal shelter in Tallahassee. Two days later, Aldama Garcia called an animal shelter in Hillsborough County, telling them he was the dog’s owner, according to the arrest affidavit. He said he would give up the dog if its new owner could love and care for it.
Morales later interviewed Aldama Garcia at his home in Ruskin, the report states. Aldama Garcia said the dog’s name was Jumbo. He’d had Jumbo since he was a puppy but could not take care of him. He tried unsuccessfully to get rid of him.
He was with his mother, who drove along the interstate during the mass evacuations that preceded Hurricane Milton’s arrival, the report states. She pulled over and let the dog out of the car. He described seeing the dog standing in water amid heavy rain and leaving it behind, according to the arrest report. The report does not detail how the dog ended up tied to the fence.
He later saw the social media posts about the dog’s rescue and returned to Ruskin to try to claim it.
Lopez noted that while Florida law allows enhanced penalties for certain crimes committed during states of emergency, animal cruelty is not one of them. “I frankly think it should be,” she said. She called on lawmakers to consider changing that.
Lopez, a Republican, is in the midst of a closely watched political campaign against Andrew Warren, a Democrat, whom DeSantis suspended from office in 2022, accusing him of neglecting his duty. The governor appointed Lopez to replace Warren.
As she seeks a four-year term, Lopez has branded herself a tough-on-crime prosecutor who unabashedly embraces law enforcement. In Tuesday’s news conference, she spoke of witnessing “heroism” while sheltered with cops as Milton swept the state. She said she was angered at tales of those who committed crimes during the storm and vowed that they “pay the price.”
Warren has criticized Lopez’s approach to running the office. He’s called his suspension illegal and accused DeSantis and Lopez of thwarting the will of the voters who elected him.
Dan Sullivan, Tampa Bay Times (TNS)
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