Highland Park Man Arrested for Beating, Kicking, Swinging 3-Month Puppy ‘Like a Yo-Yo’

Northeast Division patrol officers from the Los Angeles Police Department have arrested a 28-year-old Highland Park man for allegedly beating, injuring and swinging a three-month-old French bulldog puppy in the air like a yo-yo, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Joseph Fragoso was arrested Sunday night on the 1500 block of Avenue 54, near York Boulevard, the paper said, adding that witnesses told officers they saw the man throw the puppy onto the sidewalk, kick it, strike the puppy with a long object believed to be a tree branch and then drag the pooch on the street. 

The man, who claimed to be the pup’s owner, also swung the dog on a leash “like a yo-yo,” the Times quoted patrol Capt. Jennifer Thomas as saying.

"When officers arrived, they found the man wearing a white shirt stained with blood," Thomas reportedly told the paper. "The officers were just horrified about the condition of the puppy." 

Click here to read the full Times story.