On Tuesday, June 4, 2024, a judge dismissed felony animal cruelty charges brought against 53-year-old Pennsylvania State trooper MICHAEL R. PERILLO (pictured).
In 2022, PERILLO was charged with aggravated cruelty to animals after an on-duty incident that happened on December 28, 2021, in Chester County. PERILLO drove his patrol car into a loose horse on Route 1 in Lower Oxford Township multiple times, which caused the horse to fall. PERILLO then pinned the horse to the pavement and he/she was euthanized by another state trooper.
The Standard-Journal reports that the ruling came “after Chester County District Attorney Chris de Barrena-Sarobe notified the judge that Cpl. Michael Perillo’s attorney intended to argue at trial that the horse had to be hit to prevent a potentially serious accident. Noting that the law requires people to value [the] lives of humans over animals, Barrena-Sarobe said ‘I believe the necessity defense is valid and would be successful at trial’.”
According to The Standard-Journal, PERILLO’s attorney, William Davis, told the West Chester Daily Local News that the decision to seek the dismissal was the correct choice and thanked the district attorney for seeking the dismissal.
Davis said: “We always felt it was an unfair prosecution. If my client had not taken action, things could have turned deadly. He was trying to protect other motorists.”
I am sure that while the helpless horse was being struck repeatedly by PERILLO’s vehicle and pinned to the pavement, he/she did not think what was being done was fair or the “correct choice”.
The Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) announced that Corporal MICHAEL R. PERILLO (pictured), assigned to Troop J in Avondale, is charged with aggravated cruelty to animals after an on-duty incident on December 28, 2021, in Chester County.
According to a criminal complaint filed by PSP Internal Affairs Division, Cpl. PERILLO responded to assist at an incident involving a loose horse on the roadway.
Upon arrival, PERILLO drove a patrol vehicle into the horse multiple times, causing him/her to fall. Using the vehicle, PERILLO then pinned the horse to the pavement, where he/she was euthanized by another trooper. (I hate to think how!!!)
PSP said that the horse was on the shoulder of Route 1 in Lower Oxford Township and had already been struck by a motorist before troopers were dispatched.
PERILLO is charged with two counts of aggravated cruelty to animals, both graded as a felony of the third degree, and one count of cruelty to animals, a misdemeanor of the second degree. He was arraigned on Friday, July 22, at the Chester County Justice Center and bail was set at $50,000 unsecured.
PERLLIO has been suspended without pay pending resolution of the case.
The complaint was filed before Magisterial District Judge Scott Massey, in Oxford.
I took the liberty of naming the Voiceless Victim Evian for the tribute image.
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