Staten Island Man Arrested for Torturing Cat

A South Beach man was busted for brutally beating his neighbor's defenseless cat and broadcasting the cowardly act on social media, according to police and multiple law enforcement sources.

Tyrike Richardson, 21, was arrested Thursday morning at the 121st Precinct stationhouse in Graniteville and charged with aggravated cruelty to an animal and torturing and not feeding an animal, according to an NYPD spokesman.

Richardson allegedly tormented the animal inside his apartment on June 29, police said.

Someone living with the defendant made the complaint, the spokesman said.

The NYPD's Gang Squad came across a disturbing Facebook Live video of what appears to be a man torturing a white cat, according to a law enforcement source.

Authorities went to the home and found the animal on June 29.

The cat -- a 2-year-old male named Chester who belongs to Richardson's neighbor -- suffered multiple blunt force trauma injuries including rib fractures, liver and kidney injuries and injuries to its lungs, sources said.

The animal is still alive and in the care of the ASPCA.

In the video, a man appears to drop a wooden chair on the animal. He then appears to jam a long wooden stick into the stomach and face of the motionless feline. 

In another clip, the man is seen teasing the cat with a large knife, while it bats it away.

Richardson, police said, has multiple arrests dating back to when he was 14. 

THE FULL ARTICLE CAN BE FOUND AT http://www.silive.com/news/2017/07/nypd_gang_members_busted_for_b.html#incart_breaking