Judge orders teen accused of Orangevale cat killings to move or remove all farm animals from family home
SACRAMENTO -- A teenager accused of killing at least one cat and stealing another in the Orangevale area was in Sacramento County Superior Court again Thursday morning.
19-year-old Colin Lendewig appeared by Zoom for a status hearing in his criminal case; he was arrested and charged with animal cruelty and petty theft back in October.
At Thursday's hearing, the prosecution submitted evidence that Lendewig has been living at his family home that has farm animals on the property. The district attorney prosecuting the case told the judge this is a violation of Lendewig's bail release agreement, stating he cannot live anywhere with animals.
The judge ruled he must move out of the home or have the animals removed from the property by his next court date.
About a dozen community members attended Thursday's hearing, rallying for justice for the animals in their Orangevale community. They say they will be at every single court hearing to send a message.
"For us to let, not the accused, but the judge and the DA to see that there are people in this community that are going to show up time and time and time again until something is done about this," said Shirley Sexton.
"I'm afraid, there's a lot of people who are afraid. I keep my cats inside, I'm scared to death he is going to come there and take my cats or somebody else's cats again," said Denise Triplett.
Home surveillance video previously provided to CBS13 shows Lendewig allegedly taking two pet cats from a family home in September 2022.
Police records indicate one cat was found dead nearby and the other never turned up again after Lendewig took them off this homeowner's property.
This incident is what lead to Lendewig being charged with animal cruelty and petty theft.
He will be back in court May 10th.
The judge ordered that Lendewig must appear in court in-person for this hearing in which he will have to either enter a guilty or not-guilty plea or set a date for a preliminary hearing.
Lendewig also must prove he has moved from his family's property where farm animals reside, or that the animals have been removed from the premises.