Tikeemah Lassiter: New Jersey Woman Throws Cat Off Third Story Balcony In Disturbing Viral Video
A young woman was quickly tracked down by police after a video of her tossing a cat off of a balcony went viral.
The New York Daily News reports that a neighbor of New Jersey resident Tikeemah Lassiter, 19, called law enforcement after they came across the disturbing act on Instagram this past Saturday. In the visual, which was shared many times over the weekend, Lassiter can be seen holding a tabby cat with several friends inside of her apartment before suddenly gearing back several steps and tossing the feline out of her third-story window.
One of her friends is then heard literally cackling at the teen’s cruelness.
(The following video might be disturbing to some Inquisitr readers. Please proceed with caution.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0204UXrmsp0
“Really,” asks one of Lassiter’s cohorts in the video, as the cat smacks into the pavement, stagnant. “It’s dead?”
Fortunately, seconds later, we see the animal, although visibly shaken by the collision, moving its head around and seemingly sauntering off.
The cat, which did not belong to Tikeemah, was ultimately discovered by a boy who lives in the neighborhood, so says The Mirror, and turned over to a local rescuer by the name of Yasmin Rivera, who named the kitty “Karma.” Karma was then placed in the care of the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NJSPCA) to be checked for possible internal injuries.
Throughout the day, Rivera updated concerned parties on Karma’s condition through her Facebook page, but couldn’t help but to share some understandable anger at what befell the innocent creature.
“People [in this neighborhood] treat them very [meanly],” Rivera expressed.
“When people move out [of] the housing complex, they leave [their pets] behind, which is nothing new in our s****y city.”
President of the NJSPCA, Steve Shatkin, said that his office was bombarded with calls from worriers and well-wishers as Lassiter’s video became more widespread, which in turn, helped them to uncover the teen’s identity that much faster.
“As soon as this incident was posted on social media, our animal cruelty hotline was flooded with calls,” he remarked.
“Thankfully, the Newark Police Department requested our assistance on this case and, together, we were able to close this out fairly quickly.”
A tweet from the City of Newark’s Department of Public Safety Twitter account later confirmed that Lassiter, who had been visiting family in the area since last Thursday, was arrested and charged with animal cruelty.
“This was a horrible display of animal cruelty and very disturbing video to watch,” Shatkin continued.
“We thank the Newark Police Department for the hard work and collaboration with the NJSPCA.”
Tikeemah J Lassiter pictures,throwing a cat from the third floor https://t.co/89p7znlqpP pic.twitter.com/RlJm17SnGu
— infowe (@infowe) December 5, 2016
If found guilty, Lassiter faces up to six months in jail, a fine between $250 to $1,000, and up to 30 days of community service.
Incidentally, Karma’s terrifying toss brings to mind another despicable viral moment involving violence toward felines from earlier this year.
Londoner Tyrese Collins, from Catford, posted the videos of the cat kickings on Facebook https://t.co/51eJGFrvhe What is wrong with him?
— Penny McCarthy (@parentsnewsuk) September 14, 2016
In a video from September, as noted by the Daily Mail, two young men from London were seen approaching two cats outside of private homes, apparently under the guise of wanting to pet them. As the kitties came near, however, the duo harshly kick them in their stomachs, sending them flying across residential streets.
The person who posted the videos, a Catford teen named Tyrese Collins, was rumored to also have been the man behind the camera, which in turn, stoked the ire of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, or the RSPCA, for refusing to step in and help the animals.
“We were saddened to see this upsetting video,” they said in a statement, “and we are currently looking into it further. We would encourage anyone with first-hand information about this incident to ring our emergency cruelty line.”
Days later, as specified by The Mirror, one of two teenage boys whose name was not released to the public, was said to have been arrested for the crime.
[Featured Image by the New Jersey Dept. of Public Safety]
