Ruston Police arrested a local man after he allegedly struck a dog repeatedly in what appeared to be a domestic incident.
Martin Phillips, 21, of Ruston, was arrested after officers responded to a disturbance in progress at a Kirkland Street residence Thursday. Officers found Phillips holding a piece of plywood and screaming at a dog at reportedly had bitten him.
Phillips’s hand was bleeding and he told officers his relative, who owns the dog, had told the canine to bite him.
The complainant who had called police said he was dating the relative and that Phillips had gotten angry at his relative because she refused to give him her phone. During the encounter, the dog got between Phillips and his relative and bit him.
Phillips reportedly then struck the dog with a bottle and hit the animal repeatedly with the plywood.
The relative said she held a protective order against Phillips which was confirmed by the police department.
Phillips was arrested and booked at the Lincoln Parish Detention Center for cruelty to animals and violation of a protective order.
Bail was set at $10,000.
This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named or shown in photographs or video as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
