A man was apprehended after allegedly attacking staff at the North Central Animal Services Center in Lincoln Heights on Thursday, sending at least one person to the hospital and prompting Mayor Karen Bass to deploy security to the shelter. Los Angeles police were dispatched to the 3200 block of Lacy Street at 12:57 p.m. after reports of an assault, and the Los Angeles Fire Department received similar reports around the same time.
According to KTLA, the North Central shelter sits at 3201 Lacy Street and is one of six municipal animal care centers run by Los Angeles Animal Services. One person was detained at the scene, but LAPD later determined that individual was not the actual suspect and released them; the actual suspect fled before officers could make an arrest, per LAPD. One person was transported to a hospital with injuries described as unknown.
The chaos, according to details relayed by animal activist and rescue agency head Joey Tuccio, began when a dog owner who had recently gotten out of jail went to retrieve his dog from the shelter. Tuccio said the owner did not have enough money to get the dog fixed, though someone had reportedly provided funds to cover the procedure. The dog owner allegedly got into a confrontation with someone in the lobby after mistakenly believing that person was recording him on their phone, when Tuccio said the other person was actually just texting someone else.
Glass Broken, Chairs Thrown Amid the Confrontation
Per Tuccio’s account, the dog owner allegedly attacked a receptionist, who needed staples in her head as a result, and broke glass in order to retrieve his dog, which was reportedly still under anesthesia at the time. Tuccio also said the man threw chairs during the confrontation and broke someone’s arm. KTLA noted that Tuccio’s claims had not been independently verified by the outlet…