Florida Man Kills Pet Rat After Fight Over Last Cigarette - Big Big Forums

kytten1 · 10-10-2009, 09:24 PM

Deland, Florida - Authorities say a DeLand man became angry and strangled a pet rat after accusing his wife of taking the last cigarette.

The Volusia County Sheriff's Office reports that 22-year-old Darren Daniels grabbed his wife during a confrontation early Thursday morning. The 20-year-old woman told deputies that she eventually ran away and hid outside for about an hour. Before that, Daniels reportedly grabbed a white rat from a tank in their apartment, smashed its head and then strangled it.

Authorities say Daniels drove away recklessly and refused to pull over for deputies. Stop sticks were used to flatten his tires.

Daniels was charged with battery and fleeing and eluding. Authorities weren't sure if he'd be charged with animal cruelty.

Daniels was being held on $3,000 bail.

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Information from: Daytona Beach News-Journal, http://www.news-journalonline.com

***ahippiechic*** · 10-10-2009, 09:27 PM

That's so messed up. I might hurt a person over the last cig but not a pet!

gmyers · 10-10-2009, 09:34 PM

My husband said he can understand that. She shouldn't have taken the last cigarette. Just kidding. Poor rat.

katgirl3 · 10-11-2009, 12:48 AM

How can they not be sure if they're going to charge him with animal cruelty? I think bashing the rat's head in and strangling it certainly qualifies.

okie · 10-11-2009, 12:58 AM

That's messed up, I hope they don't have kids.

justme23 · 10-11-2009, 01:52 AM

I hate what he did to that rat... but on the other hand, my cousin breaks the neck of mice every month to feed to her snake. I know it's different, but if you asked the right person, I'm sure both would be cruelty.

fleabones3 · 10-11-2009, 02:12 AM

It doesnt matter if it was a rat or not, animal cruelty should apply to ALL animals, not just the fluffy cute kind. I would like to bash his head in.. after all, he is worse than a rat

justme23 · 10-11-2009, 03:00 AM

I didn't say it mattered... just adding to the conversation.

dv8grl · 10-11-2009, 08:47 AM

Deputies: Husband gets violent with wife, kills pet rat

A DeLand man, enraged because his wife took his last cigarette, strangled a pet rat to death then refused to stop for deputies who used stop sticks to flatten his car's tires, sheriff's officials said Friday.

Darren Daniels, 22, also grabbed his 20-year-old wife, Kaela Daniels, in the upper chest during the confrontation. The wife escaped Daniels' clutches, deputies said, and ran. She crawled under a fence into some bushes near her apartment complex where she hid for an hour.

Kaela Daniels told deputies that her husband "went nuts" at 1:30 a.m. Thursday after he accused her of taking his last cigarette. He grabbed a white rat from the aquarium, smashed its head against the tank and then strangled it to death.

The wife ran to the porch to get away but Darren Daniels came out shortly after, crying that he could not bring the rat back to life. That was when he grabbed his wife and would not let go, the report states. The woman broke free and Daniels started banging his head into a wall near the master bedroom.

Darren Daniels then drove out of the apartment complex and when deputies tried to stop him at International Speedway and Woodland boulevards, he took off recklessly. A deputy relayed information to other deputies, who used stop sticks to flatten the tires on Daniels' vehicle, the report states. He had cuts to his forehead, deputies said.

Deputies responding after a neighbor called 9-1-1 found a hole in the wall near the doorway. In the master bedroom, deputies found two other large white rats, an aquarium with snakes and lizards and a large python curled up in a ball on the bedroom floor, the report states.

Daniels was charged with battery and fleeing and eluding. A sheriff's spokesman said he did not know whether Daniels would be charged with animal cruelty. Daniels was being held Friday at the Volusia County Branch Jail on $3,000 bail.

Darren Daniels' mother told deputies that her son does not have a mental problem and that "he simply lacks self control and needs to grow up and act like an adult," the report states.

She should be patting herself on the back for raising such an upstanding citizen.

klinkykin · 10-11-2009, 02:52 PM

I'm sorry...animal cruelty is of course horrible and not funny but I'm laughing because the headline makes it sound like he was fighting the rat for the cigarette!