PHOENIX - Court documents state a Phoenix man is facing animal cruelty and drug-related charges for allegedly mistreating an animal near a South Phoenix canal.
What we know:
Per the documents, 53-year-old Baldemar Ruiz Mora is facing the following:
- One count of animal cruelty (A.R.S. 13-291A9)
- One count of possessing dangerous drugs (A.R.S. 13-3407A1)
- One count of narcotic drugs possession (A.R.S. 13-3408A1)
The backstory:
In the documents, investigators said the incident that led to Mora's arrest happened on the afternoon of Aug. 31 in the area of 4th Avenue and Baseline Road, when an officer with a Phoenix Police Neighborhood Enforcement team saw a man loitering in a nearby canal.
"The male was holding a chain and dangling it within the water," a police officer wrote in the court documents. "As I drove by, I saw the top of a dog's head and its snout barely breaking the [the water surface] and going back under."
The officer, per court documents, later saw the dog trying to climb out when the man, who they later identified as Mora, "[extended] his leg out and shoved the dog back into the rushing water."
Dig deeper:
Mora, according to police, was later taken into custody by officers. It was during that time when officers found "a few grams of a white powdery substance on his person along with a single blue M/30 pill."
"The white powdery substance was admitted to being methamphetamine from the defendant, and also field-tested as methamphetamine by a controlled substance officer," read a portion of the court documents.
The other side:
Police say in an interview that was done after Mora was read his Miranda rights, Mora said he was "just letting his dog swim."
"He refuted being careless and said he would never kill his dog," officials wrote.
Investigators say Mora later got to see a video of the incident that was taken by police, after which he said he was sorry.
"He agreed it did look bad and he agreed he should of helped the dog instead of making it swim," read a portion of the documents.
As for the drugs that were allegedly found, court document say the drugs were found in a backpack, and Mora said he found the backpack along the canal.
"The defendant did admit to using meth in the past but claims he was not going to use the meth that was found," detectives wrote.
What's next:
Court documents state that a judge has set a $7,500 bond for Mora. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 9.
Area where the incident happened
The Source: Information for this article was gathered from court documents relevant to the case.