Disputes over cat, dog lead to arrests
A sneaky cat and a beloved dog led to two separate fights — and two felony arrests — in recent days.
In one incident, an Albuquerque man took a blade to a man who “laughed at his dog,” and, in an unrelated case, a man attacked his roommate who let a cat in the house — a violation of “house rules,” according to criminal complaints filed in Metropolitan Court.
In the first case, Johnny Trujillo, 45, was jailed over the dog disagreement. He allegedly confronted Anthony Ciccarello in a parking lot near Ciccarello’s apartment in the 6200 block of Indian School NE around 9 p.m. on Thursday. Witnesses told police that Trujillo had a tiny knife or shank and was yelling at Ciccarello in the parking lot.
Trujillo had tried to confront Ciccarello earlier in the day for chuckling at Trujillo’s dog, who was not named or described in the criminal complaint.
Ciccarello told police he got out of his vehicle with a baton to defend himself.
The two men scuffled in the parking lot, then Trujillo chased Ciccarello around the parking lot throwing rocks at him, according to court documents.
Police charged Trujillo with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
The other animal that led to a fight was a stealthy cat near the 6800 block of San Francisco NE at around 2:30 a.m. Friday.
Matthew Allen was entering his home after doing laundry. When he propped the door open to bring in his clothes, a cat sneaked in. That led to an argument between Allen and his roommate, William Simoneau, 63, according to the complaint.
Simoneau is accused of hitting Allen in the back of the head with a 2-foot-long wooden bat, causing Allen to bleed and have trouble speaking. He needed to be taken to the hospital, because the blow aggravated a prior head injury, according to the complaint.
Witnesses told police that Simoneau then cut his own arm and threw a rock through a window to make it look as if Allen were the aggressor, according to the complaint.
Simoneau was charged with aggravated battery.
It was not clear if either Trujillo or Simoneau had an attorney on Saturday.