Man accused by police of throwing dog in dumpster

Alexis Flores, who authorities said was caught on camera last week throwing a chihuahua into a residential dumpster, told police he snapped after the dog led him on a four-block chase around the neighborhood and tried to bite his young daughter, according to his arrest report.

Officers were called Tuesday to the 5500 block of Sheila Avenue, where a woman, who had gone to throw away a couch, found a dog inside a dumpster across the street from her home. The animal was later identified as a 3-year-old Chihuahua mix named Marley that belonged to Flores, according to police.

Nearly 24 hours before Marley was found, a shirtless man later identified as Flores, 30, was seen in what appeared to be home surveillance video dumping the dog and fleeing the area in a grey Jeep Patriot, according to Metropolitan Police Department report. The video also circulated online after Vegas Pet Rescue Project, an animal rights nonprofit, posted it, asking for the public’s help finding the perpetrator.

According to the report, a representative from the non-profit responded to the scene to help bring Marley to a local animal hospital immediately after he was found.

‘Aggressive like that’

Police spoke with hundreds of people in an attempt to identify the suspect and the vehicle seen in the surveillance footage, according to the report. Eventually, a Henderson woman who wished to remain anonymous said the man resembled her neighbor.

A records search also revealed that the car was registered to Flores’ brother, Kairo Flores, who described their relationship as estranged, according to police.

When police interviewed Kairo Flores, he said his brother was “short-tempered” and “aggressive like that,” the arrest report showed.

“On Monday, when he [Kairo] came back from work … he asked for ‘Marley’ and his mother told him that ‘Marley’ had run away. Kairo stated that he does not know why his brother would do something like this,” police said in the document.

Afterward, police also interviewed Alexis Flores, who admitted to grabbing Marley, putting him into the Jeep Patriot, and driving around for about five minutes before dumping the dog in a trash dumpster that he found, his arrest report stated.

Flores said that morning he took Marley outside, and the dog ran away from him for about 45 minutes.

“Alexis was following ‘Marley’ in the vehicle, but every time Alexis would try to grab the puppy, it would run away again, and one of those times, Alexis fell to the ground trying to catch him, which made him angry,” police said, recapping what Flores said in the interview. “Alexis stated, ‘Marley’ is so annoying, and he decided to teach him a lesson.”

According to police, Flores also said that he went back the next day around noon, which would’ve been hours after he was rescued, to retrieve Marley, but he was already gone.

Flores was arrested three days after the incident and booked into the Clark County Detention Center on three counts of animal cruelty.

Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com.