A 36-year-old man from St. Petersburg was arrested on an animal-cruelty charge after deputies freed his dog from a locked car trunk, according to arrest paperwork described by WFLA and reporting by Tampa Bay 28. The man, identified as Nicolas Erik Francois Ligonnet, reportedly acknowledged leaving the vehicle off with the dog inside for more than 30 minutes. The accounts establish an arrest and charge, not a court finding of guilt.
Published accounts differ on the details
The reported chronology is not consistent: WFLA put the initial call at 3:20 p.m. and Ligonnet’s return at 3:54 p.m.; Tampa Bay 28 reported times of about 4:20 p.m. and 4:54 p.m., respectively. The location descriptions also do not fully align: WFLA refers to a beach-access park, while Tampa Bay 28 names Belleair Beach. The available accounts do not resolve the precise site or explain the timing differences.
According to details attributed to arrest paperwork by WFLA, the car’s windows were shut, its air conditioning was off, and the outdoor temperature was 89 degrees. Deputies searched for the vehicle’s owner for about 20 minutes before breaking a window and removing the panting dog. The animal drank water after it was freed, the report said.
The charge and its legal context
Tampa Bay 28 reported that Ligonnet was booked into the Pinellas County Jail on a $500 bond and charged with one count of animal cruelty. Florida law classifies unnecessarily tormenting or depriving an animal, or carrying it in a cruel or inhumane manner, as a first-degree misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment, a fine of up to $5,000, or both. The statute separately defines aggravated animal cruelty as a third-degree felony in specified circumstances involving an animal’s cruel death or excessive or repeated unnecessary pain or suffering. The reported charge in this case is animal cruelty, not aggravated animal cruelty, according to Florida’s statute and the cited news coverage.
A separate Clearwater case offers a limited comparison
A similar type of allegation was reported in Clearwater on May 21: WTVC, as credited by Fox Baltimore, said police rescued a dog from a hot car and arrested its owner, Marie Rutherford, on an animal-cruelty charge. That is a separate case involving a different owner. The two incidents provide examples of reported hot-car rescues in Pinellas County, but they do not establish how often such cases occur or indicate a broader trend.
