LOWER EAST SIDE – Police are looking for two suspects in connection to an instance of animal cruelty — a man they say stuffed a starving dog into a suitcase and tossed it into a dumpster on Gouverneur Slip East, and the dog's owner, who may have been complicit in the abuse.
One suspect, identified as 22-year-old Bryan Lepe, was seen leaving an apartment at 645 Water St. at around 8:45 p.m. on Oct. 19 carrying a suitcase, police said.
Less than two hours later, someone pulled the suitcase out of a dumpster at 7 Gouverneur Slip East near the Valdeck Houses and discovered an emaciated pit bull inside, according to authorities.
The dog, who is also microchipped, is being treated by the ASPCA, police said.
Police have identified the dog's owner as 21-year-old Alec Litzinger, who they believe may have been complicit in the cruel treatment of the dog. Litzinger is described as standing at 5-foot-1 and weighing 165 pounds with black hair, and is known to frequent areas within the NYPD's 7th Precinct in the Lower East Side.
The case is being investigated by the NYPD's Animal Cruelty Investigation Squad, which put out a wanted poster for Lepe on Wednesday.
Lepe is described as standing 5-foot-5 and weighing 110 pounds, with black hair and black eyes.