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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) \u2014 A man was arrested in St. Petersburg after knowingly leaving a dog in a hot car for at least 30 minutes on Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n
According to a Pinellas County arrest affidavit, a civilian flagged down a community police deputy at 3:20 p.m. to report a dog locked inside a vehicle at the beach access park.<\/p>\n
The deputy arrived to find the vehicle and air conditioning turned off, and all of its windows completely closed.<\/p>\n
The deputy found the dog inside the trunk of the vehicle with no drinking water nearby.<\/p>\n
Arrest papers said the temperature was 89\u00b0F at the time of the incident.<\/p>\n
After 20 minutes of trying to find the vehicle’s registered owner, law enforcement broke the driver’s-side window and removed the dog from the vehicle.<\/p>\n
Upon freeing the dog, the vehicle’s interior was hot, and the pup was visibly panting, arrest papers said. The dog immediately drank three cups of water.<\/p>\n
The driver, identified as Nicolas Erik Francois Ligonnet, returned to the vehicle at 3:54 p.m.<\/p>\n
Arrest papers said Ligonnet admitted to knowingly leaving the dog inside the vehicle while it was turned off.<\/p>\n
He was arrested on one count of animal cruelty.<\/p>\n