HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — A man was arrested on cruelty charges after he was allegedly caught on video killing several animals in east Harris County.
The owner of a property near Jacinto City said she's traumatized over what happened to her family's beloved pets.
Carlos Antonio Cerros-Aleman, 19, was arrested and booked into the Harris County Jail. As of Thursday night, that's where he remained.
Sara Martinez said she rushed home on Feb. 19 after her home protection cameras showed a man trying to open her door.
"I rushed home. Thought he was getting in trying to steal something," she said.
When she got home, she was horrified by what she found. She immediately called 911.
"This man (was) running in the backyard chasing the animals," Martinez said.
Her cameras showed the man chasing her pet pig, Bacon.
"I started freaking out. I didn’t get out of my truck. I saw him running with something in his hand ... a crowbar," she said.
Martinez said she and another family member stayed in their truck and honked at the man while screaming for him to stop what he was doing. She said he didn't even acknowledge her screams and kept terrorizing the animals.
"He also picked up one of the roosters that was still alive and he literally strangled him and threw him on the floor and beat him until he was dead," Martinez said.
She kept recording on her phone, and when police showed up, they took Cerros-Aleman into custody.
According to court documents, he killed the family goat (S'mores), six chickens and injured several other animals. Brownie, another goat, lost his eye and horn in the attack.
When police asked him why he did it, Cerros-Aleman reportedly "wanted to return back to his home country. And that is why he was killing the animals," court documents said.
It was a difficult excuse for Martinez and her family to hear.
"If you wanted to go back to your country, why did you have to do what you did? Why here? Why hurt the animals?" she said. "They're part of our family."
This week, Cerros-Aleman was also charged with bestiality after the Humane Society said some of the surviving animals showed signs of abuse. He's being held on a $10,000 bond.