INDIANAPOLIS — IMPD officers arrested a 53-year-old man and 74-year-old woman after a dog was found dead in a hot car Thursday evening on the northwest side of Indianapolis.
Shortly before 6 p.m. on June 20, officers responded to a report of a dog being left in a vehicle in the parking lot of a hotel in the 5800 block of West 85th Street, near Zionsville Road.
According to court documents, an officer arrived to the scene and talked with the hotel manager, who showed the officer to the parked car on the north side of the hotel.
As they were talking, the 53-year-old man who owned the car walked up to them and said that one of the dogs inside his car was dead.
(NOTE: 13News does not name suspects until formal charges are filed by prosecutors.)
According to court documents, the officer spoke with a witness who said she saw a pit bull with its nose through the crack of the window, trying to get air, and heard the dog whining for help. The witness said she did not notice there was also a German Shepherd in the car until later.
Court documents say the witness went to tell the hotel manager about the dogs in the car. When she came back outside, she said she saw a man near the car — and the car was still off. When the witness told the man that the dogs would die in the heat, she said the man called her a "stupid b****."
According to court documents, the hotel manager told police the man and woman checked into the hotel around 3:10 p.m.
Court documents say the hotel manager told police he became aware of the dogs in the car when the German Shepherd started honking the horn. The hotel manager said he did not see anybody inside the car and that the car was turned off, so he said he called the non-emergency line for animal control.
The police officer then spoke with the 73-year-old woman, who allegedly said the dogs and one cat were left in the car because the hotel was not pet-friendly.
According to court documents, the woman told police that the German Shepherd and cat were hers, and the pit bull belonged to the man she was with.
An Animal Control worker came to the scene and confirmed the pit bull had died.
According to court documents, the Animal Control worker put the German Shepherd and cat in the air-conditioned animal control vehicle and gave the animals water.
Court documents say the officer spoke with the witness again, who said she saw the man smacking the pit bull and say, "Get up. Wake up."
The officer then saw the chain the pit bull was on was tied to a weight in the floorboard of the car.
According to court documents, the witness pointed the officer to saliva marks on the window from the dogs trying to get air from outside, as well as a scratch in the tint of one of the windows, indicating the dogs were likely trying to use their claws to get out.
According to IMPD, the temperature outside was 90 degrees when the officer arrived at the scene.
Court documents say the car was towed, and the officer noted that the controls to the air conditioning were turned off, the engine was off, the keys to the car were inside the ignition, but the engine was off. The officer turned on the car and found that there was approximately 1/4 of a tank of gas left.
IMPD arrested the man for a felony of animal cruelty-kill domestic animal, while the woman was arrested for a misdemeanor of animal cruelty.
Both suspects' initial hearings are scheduled for Wednesday, June 26 at 8:30 a.m.