ROCCO JR ANTONELLI       Arrest Narrative                                        Age: 75

71 CURTIS ST
AUBURN MA 02144-000

• 1 Count: ANIMAL, CRUELTY TO

Narrative: 

On the morning of Sunday, May 31, 2026, I was assigned to marked unit East-3. At approximately 11:16 AM, Somerville Police Dispatch received a call for service at 25 Quincy Street regarding a dog left in a motor vehicle for over two hours.

The vehicle was described as a 2018 blue Maserati bearing Mass. registration xxxxxx. Animal Control Officer Haley LaMonte also responded to check the well being of the dog who was later identified as Darwin.

Upon arrival, I observed approximately 12-15 people around this vehicle and a older white male yelling at all parties. I also heard him say to the parties around him, "You obviously do not own dogs." He then started to walk away. I observed Darwin still panting heavily at this point.

ACO LaMonte stated to him that she needed to speak with the male party, later identified as Mr. Rocco ANTONELLI, however he would not listen to her. As she attempted to speak with ANTONELLI, she placed a thermometer just outside the back window of the vehicle that DARWIN was inside of and the temperature of inside the vehicle read 109.2. ANTONELLI again started to walk away with Darwin. Again ACO LaMonte told ANTONELLI to stop.

It was at this time I stepped in and told him he was not free to leave. ANTONELLI then took another step where I attempted to tell him that he cannot leave a dog in a vehicle for over two hours and Darwin was panting. I explained to him that he could be arrested for animal cruelty where he smirked and stated oh please. I then told ANTONELLI he needed to speak with ACO LaMonte. ANTONELLI continued to yell and not give me or ACO LaMonte a chance to speak.

It was at this point I placed ANTONELLI in handcuffs, where he briefly pulled away from me in an attempt to position his body away from me and towards ACO LaMonte. I grabbed his arm and placed him against the fence where I was able to place ANTONELLI into handcuffs without further incident.

Officer Thompson, East 4, and Sgt Costa, S-8 responded to the scene.

I then spoke to multiple witness' starting with Mr. XXXX. He stated to me that around 9:15 AM - 9:30 AM he observed Darwin in the back of the vehicle that was parked across the street from his residence. He went on to say that the back windows were half open, so he did not think anything of it.

I then spoke with Ms. XXXX. I asked her to describe the events that took place prior to the arrival of the police. She stated at 10:00 she let her dogs outside to play. Both dogs then went to the fence where they continued to bark. XXXX then noticed Darwin in the back of the vehicle. She then went inside her residence.

At 11:00 AM XXXX stated that she was going to go out for a run. She did not see Darwin at the window so she went to check the vehicle where she observed Darwin laying down on the seat panting. She stated Darwin did not look so she started asking surrounding neighbors if they knew whose dog was in the vehicle, to no avail. She then stated another neighbor came out with a big bowl of water for Darwin, to which he drank the entire bowl, went to lay back down and barely moved. She went on to say she called the number on Darwin's collar but did not get an answer, so she left a voicemail. When XXXX finally came out, XXXX asked why he would leave his dog in the vehicle to which he stated "you obviously do not own dogs."

I then spoke to Mr. XXXX. XXXX stated to me he originally saw DARWIN in the vehicle at 9:30 AM. Around 10:45 AM he saw Darwin still in the vehicle. When he approached the vehicle to check on him, he observed Darwin heavily panting and barking. It was at that point where he went inside his residence to get a big bowl of water for Darwin. XXXX then stated that Darwin drank the entire bowl of water. XXXX then opened the door to see the tag of Darwin's collar. He then showed me 5 different phone calls to ANTONELLI ranging for 11:16 AM to 11:19 AM. XXXX stated that ANTONELLI did not pick up any of his calls.

After speaking with all parties, I was approached by a female who stated that she was an emergency Veterinarian nurse, She stated to me and the 3 witnesses how she lost multiple

dog's this week that came into the ER from being left in a motor vehicle and she was thankful for the way the call for service was handled.

I would note that even with the back window's being half down, the back driver's side door being open for unknown time, the temperature inside the vehicle was 109.2 degrees. The outside temperature at the time of the call for service was 67 degrees.

Based on the facts, ANTONELLI was placed under arrest without incident for Animal, Cruelty to (MGL c.272 s77a).

Transport unit 200, operated by Officer RIBEIRO, was requested to the scene to transport ANTONELLI to Somerville Police Headquarters for booking. Booking was completed by Lt. Kim in the usual manner.

Respectfully,

Officer Alex Lorenti #322