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Truck Driver Turns Himself In for Deliberately Running Over Peacocks

Of all the things you can use your car for, this is among the most despicable and difficult to understand: one man has turned himself in after surveillance cameras caught him deliberately running over peacocks.
Pickup truck used to deliberately run over 2 peacocks in California 6 photos
Photo: abc7.com
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It happened in Chatsworth, California, in a little community where peacocks are “an institution,” as one lady tells ABC 7’s Eyewitness News. The birds are a delight for most residents here, who even go out and buy them food – but not for this dude.

He was captured on film and seen by an eyewitness deliberately driving towards, hitting and then running over 2 peacocks standing in the middle of the road. There was no possibility of a mistake; he had done it on purpose, this hadn’t been an accident. Armed with evidence, the residents went and filed an animal cruelty report with the L.A. County Sheriff’s Office.

The man turned himself in the other day. It turns out that he lives in the same community as well, but unlike everyone else, he really doesn’t like peacocks. So he took advantage of what he thought was a good opportunity of ridding himself of a couple of them, by driving over them in his pickup truck.

“Floyd Belton, 61, turned himself in Tuesday and is now facing charges of animal cruelty, according to a detective at the L.A. County sheriff's Lost Hills station,” the media outlet says.

Residents who had seen the surveillance video knew that he was the guy, because he’d been aggressive towards the birds before. However, until that point, they hadn’t seen him actually hurt one. Still, after recognizing his silver truck, they knew he’d done the killing.

“He actually aimed right for them as opposed to stopping. How could somebody be that evil?” Melanie Kline, who saw Belton run over the peacocks says for the same media outlet.

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About the author: Elena Gorgan
Elena Gorgan profile photo

Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
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