Overview

• Deputies responded just before 7 p.m. Monday to a residence in unincorporated St. Petersburg after reports of animal abuse and lewd and lascivious conduct.
• Investigators identified the suspect as Nigel Myers, 44, who allegedly followed a 15-year-old girl into a bedroom and tried to get her to return after she left.
• A 3-year-old pit bull named Sparta approached Myers in a protective manner as he tried to isolate the teen, according to deputies.
• Authorities say Myers threw Sparta against a dog cage and then lifted the dog by the hind legs and hurled him off a second-floor balcony.
• Sparta sustained serious injuries and was taken to a nearby animal hospital with an expected recovery, and Myers was arrested and booked into the Pinellas County Jail on charges including aggravated animal cruelty, domestic battery, child abuse, and lewd and lascivious conduct.