A Palm Bay woman said a man was so outraged by her bad review of the animal clinic where his wife works, he came to her house for revenge.
The victim said she called police after she spotted a truck tearing up her yard and coming dangerously close to her house.
Police said the suspect admitted he drove to the victim's Palm Bay home after she criticized the animal clinic where his wife is a vet.
Donna Padula, 66, said she took her cat to Wag N Tails animal clinic for help almost two years ago, but her last post about that experience was much more recent. Then, Tuesday night, she woke up to bright lights shining in her bedroom window and the sound of tires spinning across her yard.
“Obviously the idea was to terrorize me. I mean, he knows I'm in bad health. I can't believe it's not a more serious offense,” Padula said.
Padula is still worried about what else might happen after the suspect drove a pickup over her lawn last week.
Palm Bay police called it an act of criminal mischief, and both they and Padula believe it may have been an act of revenge over a negative social media post Padula made about the animal clinic.
She brought her cat, 12-year-old Rudy, there for treatment nearly two years ago after the animal had a seizure. Her cat later died.
“I woke up because I saw his headlights in my window. I saw that first, then I could hear the truck,” said Padula. “When I got to the window to look out, he was going out across the lawn.”
The suspect was identified as Joshua Fields, 35.
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He has a spouse who's a veterinarian at the Wag N Tails animal clinic.
The suspect emailed Channel 9 reporter Melonie Holt, saying that Padula had been harassing his wife for years and posted false claims about her hurting animals.
Initially, police said Fields denied any involvement, but later they said he cooperated with police, telling them, "He was wrong."
“We deal with a lot of criminal mischief, but not related to social media,” said Lt. Mike Bandish. “Basically, what he did was a lawn job, when you go on someone's lawn and use your tires to rip up the lawn.”
Palm Bay police said Fields has been told to stay away from Padula's residence.
Cox Media Group
