Surprise couple arrested after abandoning box of kittens at park during 113-degree heat
Marcus Whitfield
A Surprise couple is accused of abandoning a box full of kittens and a cat at a local park during extreme heat, and police said surveillance video helped investigators track them down.
According to AZFamily, David Hernandez and Jessica Villa dropped off a box containing eight kittens and a cat at the Surprise Farms Skate Park near 175th Avenue, north of Greenway Road, around 5 p.m. on Wednesday.
Police said the cats had no food or water, and the suspects did not plan to return for the animals. The high temperature in Surprise that day was 113 degrees. The cats were eventually rescued.
Investigators said surveillance video from the park captured Hernandez and Villa dropping off the box. The pair was later arrested at their home on Bell Road near 175th Avenue, about a mile from the park, on Thursday.
Hernandez and Villa were booked on nine misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty, eight misdemeanor counts of failure to provide medical treatment to animals, and eight felony counts of animal cruelty. Both were released on their own recognizance.
The case underscores how quickly a moment of carelessness in extreme heat can escalate into serious criminal charges, and it highlights the role park surveillance is playing in local animal cruelty investigations across the Valley.