JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Neighbors in Springfield are being credited with helping police identify and arrest a suspect they say is linked to cases of dead, tortured and missing cats. The man’s arrest wouldn’t have happened if those neighbors didn’t come together.
Residents helped the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office by sharing information with detectives after almost 30 cats disappeared or gone missing since last month.
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“We are a very animal friendly community,” Susan Fifield said.
Action News Jax showed you video from a Springfield neighbor’s cellphone earlier this month. It shows a man believed to be smothering a cat on a tarp and walking away with it.
JSO says that man is 35-year-old Blake Miles. Investigators tracked him down after residents gave them video from their Ring doorbell plus descriptions from social media posts matching Miles’ description.
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Residents Lee and Susan Fifield say they’re pleased with Miles’ arrest.
“I think they should lock him away and hopefully find more evidence so that they can charge him with a felony and not just the misdemeanors that he got slapped on the wrist,” Lee Fifield said.
According to Duval’s Clerk of Circuit Court, Miles has been charged with one count of animal cruelty and two counts of petit theft.
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“It was just really distressing to find out that somebody is terrorizing cats and people in the community,” Susan Fifield said.
“That is a family member and most everybody has pets, so you feel empathy, you’re thankful it wasn’t yours, but sorry somebody else had to go through all that,” Lee Fifield said.
Miles has a criminal arrest history dating back to 2006 with a number of charges ranging from aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, domestic violence and resisting arrest just to name a few. As far as Miles’ current charges, he has a combined bond totaling just over $80,000.
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