Coco the Cat was minding his own business walking around in his Mastic Beach yard when a cowardly man shot him, and then, shot him again.
The alleged culprit was just arrested about two weeks after the incident that left both of Coco’s back legs paralyzed. John Lettieri, 53, of Mastic is charged with aggravated cruelty to animals and criminal mischief.
Coco’s owners made a statement on Facebook saying, “The police have made an arrest!!!! The person believed to have shot him has been located and is in jail!!! We are so beyond thankful to the detectives who worked our case. They have been wonderful. Coco is still making extremely slow progress in moving his hind legs, but he is moving a bit on his own!!! He is mostly just sunbathing and enjoying being home.”
“If an individual is capable of doing this to another living creature, in this case a cat, there’s no telling what they can do — we would allege they would be capable of just about anything,” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said while visiting Coco.
The arrest report indicates that the victim was a stranger although the owner of Coco does live in the same neighborhood as Lettieri. No motive has yet been reported.
Tierney added, “Clearly this was not an accident. For whatever reason, this poor animal was targeted. We advocated with our legislature to make victims of animal abuse compensated through the crime victims compensation fund. That hasn’t happened.”
The criminal complaint obtained from the DA’s office states that at 4:15 AM Lettieri was in a black Ford-350 pick-up truck when “with no justifiable purpose” intentionally shot Coco the cat. Home surveillance video shows the defendant stopping at the “incident location (157 Monroe Drive) and firing an initial shot at the cat then reversing and repositioning before firing a second shot” at Coco.
The severity of the injuries to Coco are also described in the report, “Coco sustained a penetrating projectile injury that was lodged in his thoracic vertebra causing spinal fragmentation” and paralysis in both back limbs.
The arrest report indicates that there was an “oral admission” by Lettieri when police came to arrest him. He said, “I know what this is about. It’s about the cat. It’s crazy. I have an attorney so we can talk about it.”
Coco's owner, Melissa Violam says they are trying everything they can for Coco and are ordering a wheelchair for him.
District Attorney Ray Tierney’s office continues to gather evidence and asks that anyone with information or video contact the DA’s office at 631-852-3185.