Man Whose Cats Were Removed From Indian Rocks Beach Home Is Arrested For Stealing Cat From SPCA Vehicle (For Further Detail See Press Release #09-235)
Release Number: 09-239
Who:
Pinellas County Sheriff's Office
Patrol Operations Bureau
James John Zimmer (Arrested)
DOB: 02/19/1946
Address: 2305 1st Street, Indian Rocks Beach
Arrested for conveyance burglary
SPCA of Pinellas (Victim)
What: The man whose cats were removed from his Indian Rocks Beach apartment was arrested for burglarizing an SPCA vehicle. The suspect unlawfully removed a cat and a small crate from the vehicle after SPCA officials went back to his apartment to check for additional cats.
Where: The vehicle burglary occurred in front of the suspect's home located at 2305 1st Street, Apartment A in Indian Rocks Beach.
When: The incident occurred at about 4:27 p.m. on Wednesday, September 30, 2009.
How/Why: The man whose cats were removed from his Indian Rocks Beach apartment was arrested for burglarizing an SPCA vehicle and stealing a cat and a crate. The vehicle burglary occurred in front of the suspect's home located at 2305 1st Street, Apartment A in Indian Rocks Beach at about 4:27 p.m. on Wednesday, September 30, 2009.
According to deputies, an SPCA officer had returned to the residence to look for additional cats. The suspect, identified as 63-year-old James Zimmer was also at the residence removing his personal belongings.
The SPCA officer located four additional cats in the home and placed each in separate animal crates. The crates were then placed inside an SPCA van. The van was left unlocked and the engine running so the cats could have air conditioning. The SPCA officer continued to check inside the residence for more animals. The officer then returned to her vehicle and left for the SPCA shelter. Upon arrival at SPCA she noticed one crate was missing and reported it to the Sheriff's Office.
Just moments before the Sheriff's Office was notified of the incident, Zimmer had approached and spoken to a Pinellas deputy at the Indian Rocks City Hall parking lot. At that time the deputy noticed an animal crate in the passenger seat of his vehicle. Following the conversation Zimmer drove away.
After the deputy received the report, he also received additional information from a witness who reported seeing Zimmer take the cat.
The deputy then located Zimmer. Zimmer returned the crate to the deputy and stated he had left the cat, described as being black and white, at a storage unit on Walsingham Road. SPCA retrieved the cat and seized it.
Zimmer was arrested for conveyance burglary.
Zimmer had 25 live cats and one dead cat removed from the residence on September 29, 2009. The apartment was declared uninhabitable due to the deplorable conditions. For further detail see press release 09-235.
To view the suspects' booking records and photographs click the following link or copy and paste the link into a browser address bar:
http://www.pcsoweb.com/InmateBooking/SubjectResults.aspx?id=1374195
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