New Smyrna Beach, FL - A Volusia County man is charged with animal cruelty, a third-degree felony after a video camera captured him driving his vehicle at a dog and running it over. Volusia County sheriff's deputies arrested 29-year-old Robert Joseph Kayat last night (June 2).
The owner of the dog told deputies that she found out around 7 p.m. last Thursday (May 30) that her dog had been found dead on the side of the road. The location was the area of the 4000 block of Treadway Road west of New Smyrna Beach.
The woman reviewed a neighbors surveillance video the next morning and saw her pet get run over by a white pickup truck. The video showed the truck swerve sharply at the dog before running over him. The driver then got out, walked over to the dog, nudged him with his boot and then kicked him before getting back in his truck and driving away.
A witness to the incident identified the driver as Kayat. Kayat did contact the Sheriff's Office to meet with a deputy and provide his account of the incident. He claimed he intentionally swerved at the dog to spook it, not to run it over. He expressed remorse. Then he was arrested on the third-degree felony charge of animal cruelty and later taken to the Volusia County Branch Jail, where his bond was set at $2,500. Kayat has since bonded out of jail.
