Overview
- Prosecutors say William Ohlson carried a kitten into a San Francisco ATM vestibule on July 1 and tortured it to death, and he was arrested in Reno on July 24 after failing to appear for his San Francisco arraignment.
- San Francisco officers earlier located Ohlson on a hotel roof on July 14 using a police drone and firefighters helped with the arrest, but he was released before arraignment because California law restricts pretrial detention when the alleged victim is an animal.
- Ohlson faces two felony animal-cruelty counts and a misdemeanor resisting charge in San Francisco, and authorities have not yet returned him to California as extradition timing and formal transfer steps remain unresolved.
- Reno and Washoe County investigators are probing linked incidents after a rescue group said Ohlson adopted two kittens on July 8, one of which was later found abandoned, and police say they are examining alleged videos and ties to multiple kitten killings.
- Records show Ohlson pleaded guilty in Nevada in 2020 to attempting to kill or torture a kitten, and prosecutors say that history and public concern could influence custody, potential bans on future animal possession, and charging decisions going forward.