Criminal charges have been dropped against a Florida man who authorities said abandoned his tied-up dog in flo
odwaters near a highway as residents evacuated Florida’s Gulf Coast last year shortly before Hurricane Milton made landfall.
The case led to legislation signed into law this year by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, enhancing penalties on
people who abandon pets during natural disasters.
Tampa-area prosecutors on Wednesday filed a court notice that they were dropping charges against the 24-
year-old man from Ruskin, Florida, who had faced a count of felony ag
gravated animal cruelty. The “nolle prosequi” notice usually is filed
when there’s a lack of evidence or witnesses, and authorities told news
media that they did not have enough evidence that the dog was intentionally tied up.
The bull terrier, nicknamed Trooper by the Florida Highway Patrol,
was alive when he was found by a trooper in floodwaters up to h
is chest along Interstate 75 in the Tampa area as residents evacuated Florida’s Gulf Coast hours before the Categ
ory 3 hurricane made landfall. Troopers brought the dog to a vet,
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here he was examined for injuries and received a clean bill of health. He eventually was adopted by a couple in the Fort Lauderdale area.
“The facts as depicted in the video and the statements do
not support the theory that the dog was attached to the fence in an in
tentional manner,” Hillsborough County State Attorney Suzy Lopez’s office wrote in a memo viewed by WUFT
TV news. “A failure to locate the dog during an emergency evacuation does not equate to a criminal failure to act.”
Jose Arias-Reyes, president of AR Carpentry Services, is an ill
egal alien who has twice been deported, only to re-enter the United States, Florida’s Chief Financial Officer said in a bulletin.
“Florida does not tolerate illegal immigration, nor do we tolerate crimi
nals who take advantage of the system,” said CFO Blaise Ingoglia, whos
Department of Financial Services oversees the Office of Insurance Regulation and the Division of Workers’ Compensation.