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Police: Largo Man Punched, Hit Girlfriend's Cat

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TBO.com

Published: February 12, 2009

Updated: 02/12/2009 11:12 am

Matthew James Selk

LARGO - A 22-year-old unemployed man was arrested this morning, accused of punching and hitting a cat and then leaving his apartment with the feline in his backpack.

Matthew James Selk was charged with one count of animal cruelty. He was booked into the Pinellas County Jail this morning with bail set at $10,000, an arrest report states.

Earlier in the morning, Selk grabbed his girlfriend's 2-year-old Siamese cat by the neck at his apartment at Winding Lane apartments, 301 Belcher Road, and repeatedly punched and hit the animal. His roommates overheard him saying "he was gonna shut the cat up," the report states.

Selk left the apartment with the cat in his backpack and returned without it, said Lt. Mike Loux of the Largo Police Department. Then Selk's girlfriend returned to the apartment from work and found blood in her bedroom, along with two bloody knives.

The girlfriend confronted Selk, who then admitted killing the cat, Loux said. As he left the apartment, she called police, and Largo officers tracked him down, Loux said.

Selk told Largo police he dumped the cat in a trash bin behind an Outback restaurant, but police couldn't find the animal there, according to police.

The cat, which was named Jezebel, has not been recovered.

Selk said he assaulted the cat because he was frustrated with his roommates, the report states.

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