Cop Charged With Beating Puppy to Death to Plead Guilty

A Baltimore City police officer charged with beating his girlfriend’s puppy to death will plead guilty to aggravated animal cruelty and abuse or neglect of an animal, his attorney says.

Officers from the Montgomery County Police-Animal Services Division arrested Alec Eugene Taylor of Silver Spring for intentionally and cruelly killing Rocko, a seven-month-old puppy.

Taylor’s lawyer says his client will plead guilty to beating and choking the puppy, and texting his girlfriend a photo of the dog’s body, reports WJLA TV. Taylor, 28, will plead guilty to animal cruelty, a felony, in Montgomery County Circuit Court on Aug. 27, says Warren Brown, his lawyer.

The attack happened Feb. 26 at a residence in the 13800 block of Castle Boulevard in Silver Spring. The complainant, Taylor’s girlfriend, said Taylor had beaten and killed their seven-month-old Jack Russell Terrier named Rocko.

Brown told the TV station that Taylor is remorseful, contending that the 5-year veteran of the Baltimore department was under a lot of pressure and took his frustrations out on the dog. Brown plans to ask that Taylor receive probation, which would allow his record to be expunged.

Since his arrest Taylor has been suspended from the police force without pay. Brown says Taylor plans to resign before entering a guilty plea, which should allow him to collect some of his pension.

An investigation revealed that on Feb. 26 at about 4:30 p.m., Taylor’s girlfriend received a text from Taylor stating that the dog, Rocko, had defecated on the carpet and that Taylor had killed the dog; Taylor also texted a photograph of what appeared to be a lifeless dog.

In a follow-up phone call between the woman and Taylor, Taylor said that he was tired of cleaning up after the dog and that he had beaten the dog with a mop.

During the investigation, Animal Services Division officers also spoke with Taylor. He told investigators he used a mop to force Rocko from behind the dryer and then used his hands to choke the dog.

Necropsy results determined the dog’s cause of death was “acute hemorrhagic shock,” likely due to blood loss from liver damage caused by blunt force trauma, WJLA says.

»Alec Taylor of Silver Spring, a police officer for the city of Baltimore, is expected to plead guilty to beating and choking his girlfriend’s puppy to death.. Credit: WJLA TV screenshot