Police consider the suspect a danger to the public, but within hours of his arrest he was released from custody without having to post bail. The suspect was set free because of the pandemic. Tony Shin reports for the NBC4 News on Monday, Feb. 15, 2021.
A Riverside man accused of two felony crimes including animal cruelty was out of custody Monday without having to post bail because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Neighbors on Lou Ella Lane are in disbelief after what allegedly happened inside one of the apartments.
"Honestly I think it's really cowardly to do something like that, to harming an animal you know?" said Michael Willis.
Gloria Willis added: "It's horrible, a poor, innocent animal."
Riverside police say on Saturday 19-year-old Angel Ramos posted a gruesome video on social media, showing a severely injured puppy. Investigators say Ramos claimed in that video that he was the one who hurt it.
When someone reported the video to dispatch officers immediately responded to Lou Ella Lane.
"The man they detained had blood stains on his clothing, had fresh cuts to his hands," said Officer Javier Cabrera, of the Riverside Police Department. "They went inside his apartment and found a 4- to 6-month-old chihuahua dog with severe lacerations to his neck."
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John Welsh, of the animal services department, said the injuries were so severe the dog had to be euthanized.
Police say Ramos also had metal knuckles in his possession, which is a felony crime because of the potential deadly injuries they can inflict if someone is punched with them.
Police said that due to the emergency bail schedule the two crimes were deemed non violent and he was released with a citation with zero bail. The emergency bail schedule was enacted by the state court system in April of last year to curb the spread of COVID-19 in jails.
But Cabrera says in some cases it's also giving dangerous criminals a get-out-of-jail-free card.
"It's very frustrating," Cabrera said. "We take people to jail and unfortunately they're getting released hours later sometimes before the report is even finished."
Cabrera says Ramos should not be free while awaiting his court appearance, especially with no bail.
"He's just a violent person. He shouldn't be on the streets," Cabrera said.
