Tyrese Gibson, the “Fast and Furious” and “Transformers” actor, has a warrant out for his arrest after his dogs killed another dog in his Atlanta neighborhood, according to court documents.
The warrant citing cruelty to animals was issued out of Fulton County on Sept. 22.
On Sept. 18, Gibson’s four cane corso dogs were seen running throughout the neighborhood and killed a neighbor’s 5-year-old cavalier King Charles spaniel named Henry, according to court documents.
Henry’s owner told police he had let Henry out to use the bathroom at 10:02 p.m. and that when he came back five minutes later he found the dog dead in his driveway near the front door.
Henry had blood on the left side of his rib cage, separated and broken ribs on the right side and light puncture marks on his stomach, as well as severe internal bleeding, the report said.
Security camera video from a neighbor’s home showed four cane corsos running toward Henry’s home, according to the report.
Also that evening, at 11:30 p.m., animal control got a call from another neighbor who reported four cane corsos were at her door and that she could not get to her vehicle in the driveway. An animal control officer arrived at 12:17 a.m., saw all four dogs in the front yard and escorted the caller to her car, according to the incident report.
That night, a friend of Gibson’s picked up the dogs because Gibson was “not available,” and animal control issued him a warning for the dogs’ being loose, the report said.
In the report, Fulton County Police Capt. Nicole Dwyer said that some of Gibson’s dogs were seen running throughout the neighborhood more than five times over the previous few months and that Gibson had received a written warning for the dogs’ running around on Sept. 7.
It was not immediately clear how many dogs Gibson has, but he had also received notice before the incident of a special permit he needed for having more than 10, the report said.
On Sept. 22, animal control and Fulton County police went to Gibson’s residence to have him surrender the four dogs. He said over the phone that he would not surrender the animals and asked for three to four days to figure out what to do, according to the police report.
The report indicated an officer told him that either he would surrender the dogs or police would obtain a search warrant and confiscate them.
On the phone, Gibson, 46, “admitted that he believes his dogs killed Henry and that he knows it’s been an ongoing issue over the past few months with his dogs getting out,” the report said.
A search warrant was executed the same day, but neither Gibson nor the cane corsos were home, the report said.
Gibson said Wednesday in a statement on Instagram that he has been a passionate dog lover for nearly 40 years.
“My dogs have only ever been treated as family. They’ve never been trained to harm, never spent a single day in attack or protection training, and they’ve grown up playing with kids and smaller dogs in my home,” he wrote. “That’s why this incident has left me shocked, devastated, and heartbroken for the family affected. As an empath, my heart hurts deeply for their unimaginable loss, and I’ve been trying to reach out directly to express my sorrow and condolences.”
He said he is in Los Angeles with his family mourning the death of his father.
“To the family who lost their beloved pet: please know that I am praying for you, grieving with you, and will continue to face this tragedy with honesty, responsibility, and compassion,” he wrote.
An attorney for Gibson, Gabe Banks, said in a statement on Gibson’s Instagram page that Gibson has rehomed two of his adult dogs and that their three puppies are “in safe and loving homes.”
“The liability of keeping them was simply too great, and he could not bear the thought of anything like this ever happening again,” Banks said.
“Tyrese’s heart is truly broken, and he has been praying for the family constantly, hoping they may one day find it in their hearts to forgive him,” Banks continued. “While he was out of town when the incident occurred, he accepts full responsibility for his dogs.”
