COVENTRY, R.I. — Police arrested one of the two people suspected of taking a pair of caged cats from a vehicle and leaving them outside a Rhode Island Taco Bell last week. Surveillance video from the restaurant showed the pair ordering and picking up food before abandoning the animals.
Coventry police shared two surveillance videos of the abandonment. In one, two people can be seen in grainy video getting out of a vehicle around 12:20 a.m. Thursday and placing something on the ground before they appear to order from the restaurant's drive-thru on Tiogue Avenue.
About half-hour after the cats were left behind, police found them in a grassy area outside the Taco Bell. An investigator took the animals to the Coventry Animal Control facility.
An anonymous caller tipped police off on Saturday to the possible identities of the pair. Police identified the suspects as Stacey Derouin and Kenneth Germani.
Authorities arrested Derouin, 41, later that night on two counts each of animal abandonment and failure to get a rabies vaccination for the cats.
"Stacey gave a statement admitting to her and Kenneth leaving the cats at Taco Bell," police said in a news release. "Stacey stated (that) she attempted to contact several animal shelters, but was unable to find placement for the cats."
Police could not immediately make contact with Germani, who they said is wanted for questioning in the case.
Police continue to investigate.