By Michael Ventura
DNAinfo Senior Editor
MANHATTAN — Police released a video Wednesday of a Harlem man violently yanking the leash of a small dog like he was playing with a yo-yo in an elevator in the Grant Houses.
Carlos Baez, 29, of the Grant Houses, on Amsterdam Avenue at W.125th Street, was arrested earlier this month on animal cruelty charges after he was caught on a Housing Authority security camera pulling the leash 3-year-old mixed-breed pooch named Dutch so hard that the dog flew off the floor.
After police saw the video captured on Sept. 30, an initial canvas of the building at 1315 Amsterdam Avenue turned up nothing, police said. But on Oct. 2, NYPD officers found the dog and its owners and were able to track down Baez and arrest him, police said.
Dutch was found to be in good condition and without injuries, according to the NYPD. The 10-pound dog remains at the Center for Animal Care and Control, police said. He is being held as evidence.
Baez is the third person caught on video and arrested on animal cruelty charges at the Grant Houses this year.
In January, Tiara Davis, 31, was seen on video beating her Pomeranian, Sparky.
Earlier that month, Chris Grant, 21, was arrested after he was caught on tape punting his girlfriend's tiny Pomeranian-Chihuahua named Chuvi-Duvi.
Baez was charged with one count of torturing animals and one count of marijuana possession, police said.
