[On Sept. 10], The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office Animal Crimes Detectives arrested and charged 20-year-old Lawrence Weinhart and 16-year-old Alexander Halbisen for one count of burglary third degree and two counts of animal cruelty. The arrests stem from an incident that took place on Sept. 2 where two individuals were seen on surveillance video throwing rocks at and hitting two horses multiple times within a 30-minute period.
Initially, deputies responded to the call for service the morning after the incident and were shown video of the abuse. In the video, deputies could see the abuse but because of the poor quality of the video were not able to identify the two individuals. The case was turned over to animal crimes detectives who responded to the location to gather more information or any possible evidence. The owners of the horses also started a social media campaign sharing the video in hopes of identifying the two individuals.
Because of the social media campaign, detectives received multiple tips and leads on the incident, ultimately identifying the two individuals in the video. [On Sept. 10], detectives were able to take both individuals into custody without incident.
“This is just another great example of community members working with law enforcement on solving crimes,” said Sheriff Paul Penzone. “Tips from our communities are always an asset to our investigators when solving crimes.”
