MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – An Orlando man was arrested Monday, months after he brutally attacked a seagull at Haulover Park, authorities said.
According to his arrest report, two witnesses reported seeing Daniel Guzman, 37, feeding the seagull chips on Dec. 19 before he kicked it and struck it with a rock.
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This caused one of the seagull’s wings to nearly tear off.
“That’s what you deserve,” Guzman said, according to one witness.
Authorities said Guzman was later captured on surveillance video entering the Haulover Point fuel dock store.
An officer recognized Guzman from a prior incident.
According to his arrest report, Guzman was questioned that evening by an officer and confessed to intentionally striking the seagull with the rock after he was read his Miranda rights.
Authorities said they discovered the next day that the seagull, which was a laughing gull, had died upon its arrival to the Pelican Harbor Seabird Station clinic.
Laughing gulls are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
Guzman was arrested Monday after he was stopped while on a boat in the Oleta anchorage and was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
He faces charges of animal cruelty with intent to injure or kill, and two counts of violating an FWC rule or order.