LAKEPORT (KRON) — A Lake County man has been arrested in connection with killing his dog with a machete, according to the Lakeport Police Department.
On Tuesday at around 10:30 a.m., officers were called to investigate a “man threatening to cut up his dog and kill people with a machete,” police said. When police arrived, they said they found 27-year-old William Richard Gatlyn, of Lakeport, standing on the steps to the entryway of an apartment complex in the 70 block of Lily Cove Avenue.
Police said Gatlyn was uncooperative, refusing to walk off the steps and talk with police. He tried to reach into his pants pocket, and that is when officers handcuffed him, authorities said.
When police entered Gatlyn’s apartment, they found a brown Chihuahua dead, with a machete lying across its body on the living room floor, according to police.
The dog had multiple deep lacerations on its body, police said.
Police arrested Gatlyn on charges of felony animal cruelty. He was booked into the Lake County Correctional Facility.
Gatlyn has prior arrests for battery, burglary, trespassing, public intoxication, and being under the influence of a controlled substance, police said.