Macomb County man accused of strangling father's dog pleads no contest to misdemeanor
A Richmond Township man accused of strangling his father's dog in January pleaded no contest to a lesser offense this week in district court.
William Kucharski Jr., 48, pleaded no contest to animals-abandoning/cruelty to one animal, a misdemeanor, according to 42-1 District Court in Romeo. The original charge of animals-killing/torturing, a felony, was dismissed during a preliminary exam Tuesday, according to the court.
Kucharski is scheduled to be sentenced March 18, according to online court records.
Messages were left for his attorney, who could not be immediately reached Thursday. Kucharski was being held in the county jail on a $150,000 bond, according to online jail records.
Macomb County authorities accused Kucharski of strangling to death his father's fully-grown Labrador retriever named Punky in their home Jan. 14.
In a release in January, the sheriff's office stated deputies were sent to a residence on Prinz Road on a report of dead family pet and possible threat to a family member. The caller was concerned for the welfare of the suspect and the suspect's father.
Kucharski lived with his father, according to a prior release from the county prosecutor's office.
The sheriff's office stated in its release that the suspect was home alone with the dog. When his father returned home, he found the suspect with his arms around the dog and was unable to remove them, per the release.
It stated the suspect made threats to harm himself. The suspect was uncooperative with deputies and was taken into custody.
Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Jennifer Putney previously told the Free Press that she did not know the dog's age or how long the suspect's father had the dog. The 911 caller, she had said, was the suspect's sister.
Putney previously said the dog was beside the suspect when deputies gained entry to a bedroom. The dog was found dead, she had said, and the suspect told deputies that he killed the dog.
Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @challreporter.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Macomb man accused of strangling dog pleads no contest to misdemeanor
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