Alex Eugene Taylor, a 5-year veteran of the Baltimore Police Department, has been suspended without pay after he allegedly killed his girlfriend's puppy.
According to police, Taylor had texted his girlfriend last month, saying their 7-month-old Jack Russell terrier named Rocko had defecated on the carpet of their Silver Spring home. Taylor then said he killed the dog, and sent a photo of its body to his girlfriend, police say.
In a phone call, police say Taylor told his girlfriend he beat the dog with a mop because he was "tired of cleaning up the dog's defecation." According to police, he then threw the dog out in the trash, but his girlfriend asked him to retrieve Rocko so she could bury him.
Two days later, she called police about the incident. Taylor was charged with aggravated animal cruelty and abuse or neglect of an animal.
He has been suspended without pay from the Baltimore Police Department, which is conducting an investigation into the incident.
