Police: Man beats wife with dead dog

SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — Sandy Springs police said a fight between a man and his wife escalated into one of the worst cases of animal cruelty they've ever seen.

Emmanuel Tadeo, 27, faces animal cruelty and aggravated assault charges stemming from the May 19 incident at his Roswell Road condo.  His wife, 40-year-old Andrea Armintrout, faces an obstruction charge for interfering with the police investigation, police said.

Police told Channel 2's Mike Petchenik that Tadeo was drinking heavily and got into a physical fight with Armintrout.

"The argument started over him blaming his wife for his misfortunes in life," said Capt. Steve Rose.

At some point during the argument, Rose said, Tadeo grabbed the couple's Pomeranian and started attacking it.

"He kicked the dog," said Rose.  "She took the dog back from him and at that time he hit her with the dog, a small, defenseless dog."

Rose said it didn't end there. 

"It was a very graphic scene," he said.  "The dog was dead, the man had not only kicked the dog and stomped on the dog, but according to what he said, snapped the dog's neck."

This week, prosecutors upgraded Tadeo's charges to felonies and rearrested him.  He remains in the Fulton County Jail without a bond.

Neighbors told Petchenik they are shocked to hear about the incident.

"It's inhumane," said Barbara Bailey.  "You can't even think about.  It's incomprehensible that people would even behave that way."

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WSBTV