Police in Texas say they arrested a 22-year-old man this week after he attacked a neighbor and ate his own family’s dog alive.
Michael Terron Daniel of Waco, Texas was allegedly high on what is known as “K2” — a form of synthetic cannabis known to exacerbate existing psychotic disorders — at the time of the June 14th incident, and was said to be “going crazy,” according to police reports.
Witnesses say the man, who had already assaulted several people in his home, told them he “was on a bad trip from ingesting K-2” before he started crawling around “on his hands and knees and chased a neighbor” back into their home “while barking and growling like a dog.”
Daniel then allegedly took his family’s 30 to 40-pound dog out onto the front porch of the house, where he beat and strangled the pet, and began chewing “hunks of flesh” from the animal.
According to Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton, officers arrived at the house to find Daniel sitting on the porch with “blood and fur around his mouth,” and with the dead dog lying in his lap.
Police say he was “initially incoherent and unresponsive,” and while he was waiting for paramedics to arrive, Daniel asked officers to fight him or use a stun gun “to help him get off his bad trip.”
Daniel was charged with felony cruelty to a non-livestock animal and booked into the McLennan County Jail.
This latest “zombie-like” incident follows a series of bizarre attacks by people allegedly high on synthetic drugs, like bath salts, for instance. If Michael Daniel’s brutal attack sounds familiar, that’s because a guy named Rudy Eugene was shot and killed over a month ago by police in Miami after he did the same thing, but to a human being.
Police believed he was high on “bath salts,” but according to the full toxicology report from his autopsy, it was determined that no synthetic drugs were found in his system. The only “drug” that was found in his body was marijuana, which has left many medical professionals scratching their heads.
Synthetic marijuana, popularly known as “K2” or “Spice,” is a legal substitute for the real thing, which is currently illegal in most states. However, following recent incidents, like Michael Daniel’s, officials are taking the steps necessary to get the drug banned.
In fact, a federal ban on not only synthetic drugs is on its way to President Obama for final approval after passing the Senate this week.
The bill, sponsored by New York Senator Charles Schumer, will prohibit the sale of at least 31 chemical substances — including synthetic marijuana, bath salts and other synthetic hallucinogens — sold online, in convenience stores and in smoke shops.
[KWTX]
