Trooper accused of hitting loose horse with patrol vehicle

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania state trooper has been charged with animal cruelty after hitting a loose horse with a patrol vehicle multiple times and pinning it to the pavement, where it was then euthanized, authorities said Friday.

Cpl. Michael Perillo was suspended without pay after the charges were filed by the state police internal affairs division, officials announced. His bail was set at $50,000 and it is not known whether he has an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

A message left Friday for the Pennsylvania State Troopers Association was not immediately returned.

Perillo responded to a call to police Dec. 28 involving a horse on a highway in Chester County, west of Philadelphia.

The horse was on the road’s shoulder in Lower Oxford Township and had already been struck by a motorist before troopers were sent, authorities said.

Perillo drove a vehicle into the horse multiple times, causing it to fall, and then pinned the horse to the road, authorities said. Another trooper then euthanized it.

Perillo, who enlisted in the state police in September 2006, is assigned to Troop J in Avondale.