Featured Image Credit: Facebook/Renee Pena Truitt
Topics: Crime, US News, Police, Animal Cruelty
Britt Jones
Topics: Crime, US News, Police, Animal Cruelty
Warning: This article contains graphic images which some readers may find distressing.
Four New Mexico deputies have caused deep upset after a video of one of them throwing a baby rabbit at a police cruiser was discovered.
In 2024, the four police deputies, including Alejandro Gomez, were filmed terrorizing a baby bunny they'd found during an overnight shift, with the video resurfacing in July.
In the video, they can be seen passing the rabbit around, with two other men who weren't featured on camera, laughing in the background as one cradled the animal before attempting to put it back on the ground.
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It was at this point that Gomez, 28, threatened his co-worker with a taser to give him the rabbit.
The colleague repeatedly asked if he was going to hurt it, and Gomez stated that he had no intention of ‘throwing it’.
“I won’t throw it,” Gomez said, to which one deputy asked: “Swear to God?”
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“I can’t do that,” he replied.
The deputy then attempted to walk away with the animal, but Gomez followed him and the others, demanding that they ‘let him hold it’.
Before handing it over, his colleague told him: “Don’t f***** kill it.”
However, Gomez immediately turned to the camera and laughed before throwing his arm back and launching the bunny at the side of their patrol car.
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“Dude…” one man could be heard saying after the bunny made its impact.
After the video came to light, Gomez was placed on leave and charged with four counts of assault on a police officer and one count of extreme cruelty toward animals in February.
The three others were not placed on leave at the time; however, after a year-long investigation, all have been let go from their roles, Grant County Sheriff Raul Villanueva confirmed - even the one who initially reported the incident (via The New York Post).
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Sheriff Villanueva did not confirm whether the men’s firing was related to the rabbit video circulating on social media, however, and refused to comment further on the 'personal matter'.
An arrest warrant affidavit was filed in the Silver City Magistrate Court on February 14, which claimed the incident occurred on August 16 (via Police1).
In the affidavit, it was stated that the deputies approached the rabbit to move it off the road, and when it didn't move on its own, the deputy picked it up to move it themselves.
It was then that the sergeant pulled out their cellphone to record the interaction.
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The affidavit says that Gomez 'threw the animal with such force that it fatally wounded the animal', leading another deputy to euthanize the animal by shooting it so 'it would not suffer'.