Caught on Surveillance Video: Landlord Accused of Breaking into Tenant's Unit and Shooting Their Cat

A North Carolina landlord is facing felony charges for allegedly breaking into his tenants' residence and shooting their cat, authorities said.

The Burke County Sheriff's Office said that on July 15 they received a report about a break-in and animal cruelty that took place on July 10 at a residence south of Morganton, about 70 miles northwest of Charlotte.

The sheriff's office said surveillance video of the incident clearly showed the suspect, Dustin Timothy McCormack, and an arrest warrant was issued.

McCormack turned himself in to law enforcement, and was charged with felony breaking and entering, felony cruelty to animals, misdemeanor breaking and entering, and misdemeanor injury to personal property.

The sheriff's office said his total bond is $20,000 — $10,000 for the two felonies and $10,000 for the two misdemeanors.

Tenants Harmony Chizem and her boyfriend, Preston Finley, told WSOC-TV that the incident occurred while they were on vacation at the beach. Their security cameras captured the incident involving their cat, Frank.

"I kind of get like I was having a panic attack with what had gone on because it was so cruel," Chezem told the outlet.

“I feel like he should be charged for everything that he’s done,” Finley said.

McCormack, who owns a construction company and multiple rental homes in the area, told the outlet that the couple rented only a room, not the entire property, and said they were not allowed to have a cat.

“It was locked in the house for probably two days unsupervised,” McCormack told the outlet. “It just peed all over everything. I go to my houses for random checks all the time. They were using a room. The house wasn’t theirs.”

He said he was trying to get Frank out of the house, and was only trying to scare the cat when he shot at him, not kill him.

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“I had to get the cat out of the house and when I got it off the porch, it wouldn’t run, so I scared it so it would go away,” McCormack said.

The couple told the outlet they had a friend watching the cat while they were away.

According to the sheriff's office, McCormack has several other charges pending in court in unrelated incidents, including two counts of violating a protective order in a domestic violence case, cyberstalking, assault, reckless driving to endanger, and resisting a public officer.

TMX contributed to this report.