McALLEN — Police arrested a man who allegedly slammed a puppy against the window of a convenience store after an employee refused to buy it last week, according to a criminal complaint.
Brian Peter Campbell, 35, of McAllen, was arrested on charges of cruelty to a non-livestock animal about 11:35 p.m. last Tuesday.
Campbell allegedly tried to sell a puppy to James Gonzalez, an employee at the Stripes convenience store located at 720 N. Bicentennial Boulevard.
Gonzalez told police that when he told Campbell that he didn’t have money nor did he want to buy the pup, Campbell reportedly responded, “I do not care, I will go to the back of the store and throw this puppy to the wall.”
Gonzalez told police he asked Campbell not to hurt the puppy and followed him out the front of the store. That’s when Gonzalez reportedly saw and heard Campbell slamming the puppy against the store’s window pane.
The employee called to report the alleged torture of the animal about 11:35 p.m.
When police arrived, they saw Campbell and what they describe as a scared pup.
“Mr. Campbell was outside the convenience store with a brown puppy who was shaking and looked to be in distress,” the complaint said.
Campbell told police “he had only slammed the dog in the window due to him being off his medication,” according to the affidavit.
At one point, another officer arrived at the scene. That second officer had already responded to the store earlier that day for another incident involving Campbell, the document said, but did not give specifics about the first incident.
During Campbell’s first run-in with police that day, the puppy seemed calm, but when the officer saw the puppy again, it appeared to be shaking and in distress, the affidavit said.
When police arrested Campbell and transported him to the station, he said he knew Gonzalez had called police and knew where he lived.
When asked if he was going to do something, Campbell said, “We will see once I get out of county,” and then he added, “If I would have known that it was a felony, I would have just shot the dog.”
Police transported the puppy to Campbell’s mother’s house in McAllen, and Campbell was jailed on a $15,000 bond.
He had yet to be released Tuesday, according to jail records.
