A Florida man allegedly bit off the head of a python during a domestic dispute, according to police.
On Monday, Miami-Dade police officers responded to a report of an argument between a couple at an apartment complex in Cutler Bay.
Officers could reportedly hear a fight between a man and a woman going on inside one of the units when they arrived. They knocked on the door repeatedly and gave orders for it to be opened, but no one answered, and the fight inside continued.
Officers heard the woman scream, “Just kick the door in,” which is exactly what they did.
Kevin Justin Mayorga, 32, reportedly blocked officers from opening the door and briefly held the woman against her will.
When they forced their way into the apartment, officers saw the woman about two feet from the door as Mayorga ran behind the door to close it.
Mayorga was tased by one officer after refusing orders to come out with his hands up, but it had little effect. Police then forcibly removed Mayorga from the apartment as he actively resisted.
He reportedly struck an officer in the face with his arm, which had a handcuff on it, when that officer tried to detain him. The impact caused an abrasion to the officer’s face.
After Mayorga was detained, police found a decapitated snake near the front door.
According to the woman, Mayorga bit the head off of the pet python during their argument.
Mayorga is facing charges of animal cruelty with intent to kill, false imprisonment, and resisting arrest. He was released Thursday on a $5,000 bond.
Frank Markland, professor of biochemistry and molecular medicine at the University of Southern California, told The Dallas Express that this python “must have been a juvenile snake because with full-grown pythons, he could not have gotten the head into his mouth.”
“Pythons do not have venom glands, so they are not poisonous,” he explained. “With a smaller snake, it would certainly be feasible for him to do what he did and not be poisoned, but as noted it would have had to be a relatively small python or he could not have gotten its head into his mouth.”
Meanwhile, crime has continued to rise throughout Dallas-Fort Worth in recent years.
Many local residents have vocalized a lack of trust in public safety in Dallas in particular, as The Dallas Express continues to report on the apparent failures of elected officials to make getting crime under control a top priority.