TEEN CHARGED IN BEATING OF KITTENS; POLICE SEEK HELP LOCATING ANIMALS' OWNER.

Byline: Donna Huffaker Staff Writer

Felony charges were filed Friday against a Glendale gang member accused of beating 7-week-old kittens with a pole, killing one.

Police have been unable to locate the dead animal or its owner, a girl between the ages of 6 and 8, said Sgt. Rick Young.

``This is one of the worst cases of animal cruelty that I've ever seen. You do this long enough and you think you've seen it all, and then something like this happens,'' said Lonnie Felker, Glendale deputy district attorney.

Police arrested 18-year-old Eric Lopez and a 17-year-old boy Thursday on suspicion of cruelty to animals after a passer-by reported witnessing the teens take turns hitting the animals over their heads with a four-foot-long pole thicker than an officer's baton, Young said. As of late Friday, the juvenile bureau of the district attorney's office had not filed charges against the 17-year-old.

``The severity of this heinous act has horrified everyone involved in this case. The intentional, cruel manner in which these defenseless creatures were treated has caused everyone to take it to heart,'' Young said.

Three of the kittens survived the attack and were taken to a veterinarian by the 14-year-old witness, he said, who is keeping the trio until police find the owner.

The witness told police she was walking to her summer school class at Glendale High School on July 15 when she heard a child screaming and animals shrieking, according to a report written by Glendale Officer Sue Shine. Shine is the school resource officer at Glendale High who helped find the two teen-age suspects, based on the witness's description and Shine's previous experience with them.

The witness told Shine she saw the teen-agers laughing as the unidentified child wailed, ``Stop killing my kitties!''

According to Shine's report, the kittens were in a box that was hanging from a rope tied to a tree. The tree was in front of an apartment complex in the 1300 block of East Harvard Street. When the witness yelled to the teen-agers to stop, Lopez said, ``We couldn't find homes so we're going to kill them,'' according to Shine's report.

They continued striking at a kitten's paw that had protruded from the box, the report says.

After the last whack to the box, one of the kittens fell through a hole and landed on the ground, the report says. Squealing, the child picked up the animal's lifeless body and ran down Orange Grove Avenue.

As the witness picked up the three kittens and carried them to Glendale High School, the teen-agers ran down the street, Shine's report says. Shine said the kittens, two males and a female, looked traumatized but appeared to have escaped serious injury.

Young called the witness a hero for saving the kittens.

On Thursday, police arrested Lopez and the 17-year-old boy. In a report, Officer Keith Soboleski said both boys are on probation. One condition of Lopez's probation was that he move from the area.

Soboleski had arrested the 17-year-old on July 12 for violating his probation. The boy was taken to Eastlake Juvenile Hall. It does not appear he will be charged as an adult, Young said.

As police handcuffed the boy, the teen's mother told Soboleski she ``has no control of her son, and he needs to be locked up for safety,'' Soboleski's report says.

Animal cruelty can carry a maximum state prison sentence of three years, Felker said.

The one count of animal cruelty was filed as a felony against Lopez because of the ``extreme cruelty'' involved, Felker added.

Lopez was being held Friday at Glendale City Jail on $100,000 bail, Young said. He will be arraigned Monday.

Police urged anybody with information on the young owner of the kittens to contact them at [phone].

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PHOTO Three kittens survived the violent attack and are in the care of a witness.