A man accused of stealing nearly $600 in goods from Macy’s in McAllen was also charged with animal cruelty last Friday after leaving his dog in a hot car for hours while he was shoplifting, authorities said in an arrest affidavit.
McAllen police responded to the call at about 5 p.m. and spoke with two loss prevention employees in reference to a detained shoplifter, identified as Alfredo Jose Cornejo, who had been accused of assaulting one of the employees while conducting their duties, the affidavit said.
One employee at Macy’s, located on 2100 S. 10th St., told the officers that Cornejo advised them once he was detained that he had his dog in his tan Nissan Altima, which was parked outside.
According to the report, officers quickly began to search the parking lot for the Altima and found the vehicle in an area exposed to sunlight, with both rear windows rolled halfway down and a medium-sized gray pitbull severely panting. The dog was sitting in the rear leather seats.
Officers took note that the temperature outside was 92 degrees at the time, the dog didn’t have any water to drink and the rear seats were covered in dog drool, authorities said in the affidavit.
Inside the Macy’s, one loss prevention employee told police that Cornejo had assaulted him by grabbing his shirt, pushing and clawing him which caused minor cuts on his hands, according to the report.
The affidavit says that based on the statements from three employees who had seen Cornejo wandering the store, officers concluded that he had been neglecting his dog for hours as he allegedly stole items around the store.
Cornejo provided the officers with a phone number for someone who could pick up his dog but they didn’t answer, so an animal warden took custody of the dog and the Altima was towed, the report said.
