Operator of North Las Vegas Chick-fil-A arrested on felony animal cruelty charges

Karl Garcia, the operator of the Chick-fil-A location at 1720 W Craig Road in North Las Vegas, and his adult son Logan Garcia were arrested after Las Vegas Metropolitan Police detectives said the two beat and shot a neighborhood cat, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Police had responded to a report of shots fired on Saxon Canyon Street on April 14, 2021.

According to the arrest report cited by the Review-Journal, the cat -- later identified by its microchip as a house cat named Taco -- "was hit several times with a bat, then shot with a BB gun, then a .22 caliber gun," and was found dead in a dumpster not far from the Garcia home, still wearing its collar.

Karl Garcia initially told responding officers that the cat had attacked his three dogs in his backyard, the Review-Journal reported; detectives said a review of backyard camera footage led them to a different account of what happened, though the outlet's report does not describe every detail of that footage.

The charges

Karl Garcia was arrested on felony charges of malicious killing of a cat, five counts of discharging a firearm where other persons might be endangered, felony conspiracy to kill an animal belonging to another person, and destroying or concealing evidence, according to court records cited by the Review-Journal. Logan Garcia was arrested on one felony count of malicious killing of a cat and gross misdemeanor charges of conspiracy to kill an animal of another and destroying or concealing evidence.

Police assessment

Investigators concluded the cat had not posed a threat that justified the response, per the Review-Journal's account: "The officers did not feel the cat was a threat and that if the Garcias and the dogs went inside, the cat most likely would have left the yard."

What officers found and Garcia's defense

Officers were called to the Garcia home around 9:05 p.m. on April 14 after a neighbor reported hearing gunshots, according to the Review-Journal's reporting. At the scene, officers found a baseball bat with blood on it, along with a BB gun and a .22-caliber handgun; Taco had injuries to his back, mouth, side and head, while one of the Garcias' dogs had only a small scratch under its eye. Karl Garcia told officers he had "a right to protect his property same as if a person came onto his property," per the Review-Journal.

Taco's owner told officers the cat was friendly and that there had been no prior neighbor complaints about him, and said he was shocked by what the Review-Journal's reporting described as a "brutal" killing. Both Karl and Logan Garcia were released without bail after their arrests, with a next court hearing scheduled for May 17, 2021, according to the Review-Journal.

Public reaction and calls for Chick-fil-A to act

The arrests prompted a Change.org petition calling on Chick-fil-A's corporate parent to terminate Karl Garcia's franchise agreement over the animal cruelty allegations. The petition described the allegations in terms matching the arrest report cited by the Review-Journal -- that Taco had been shot, disfigured and beaten with a baseball bat -- as grounds for the company to sever ties with the North Las Vegas location's operator.

US In News compiled this archived account from contemporaneous coverage by the Las Vegas Review-Journal and KTNV. It restores a story originally published on this site in April 2021; details are as reported at the time.