The Pittsburg Police Department said it’s arrested two women they believe were involved with kicking a dog in Pittsburg and wielding a firearm at a neighbor.
Both women were identified and arrested in Oakland on Thursday.
Albert Lopes told NBC Bay Area on Tuesday that a dispute with his neighbor last week ended with a woman caught on camera kicking his little dog, GiGi, hard enough to send her flying.
A video of the incident has been shared widely on social media platforms and sparked community outrage.
“We want to assure everyone that Gigi is safe at home this evening while the two suspects are currently in County Jail,” the PPD said on social media.
Lopes claims the incident started when he confronted his 68-year-old neighbor after she ran over his plant. Lopes said the next thing he knew, the woman’s daughter and granddaughter came over and began threatening him with a gun. That’s when he picked up his 17-year-old dog Miko to go inside and call the police.
Lopes said that’s when the woman instructed her daughter to kick GiGi.
However, Lopes’ neighbor Susie Ashley said the video doesn’t tell the whole story. Ashley, the grandmother who Lopes said ran over his plant, claimed the dog owner was the aggressor and insisted her daughter didn’t have a gun. She disagreed with her granddaughter kicking the dog but believed it was a reflex.
“My granddaughter got upset about him talking to her mom like that,” she told NBC Bay Area earlier this week. “She kicked the dog out [of] the way. The dog was coming toward my granddaughter and that’s what happened.”
Legal analyst and former prosecutor Steven Clark said he believes the police and the district attorney, in this case, wanted to send a message to the community that this type of behavior is not acceptable.
“Any juror that sees that video would be appalled, and this would be a very difficult case to bring to trial,” Clark said.
Regarding what might be ahead for the suspects, Clark said, “That’s someone I think the court is going to want to see do anger management and other counseling to address that issue, and they likely would not be able to own an animal during the period of probation.”
Lopes didn’t want to be interviewed Thursday night but said he thanked the community for its support.
Lopes has since started a GoFundMe to help pay for the vet bills and prays GiGi recovers.
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