Hotel Clerk Arrested For Killing Cat With Arrow Deported Before Trial
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MIAMI BEACH (CBSMiami) – The man arrested for killing Strushie the cat by shooting him in the head with an arrow, will not go on trial.
Georgios Kollias, once a South Beach hotel clerk, was deported to his native Greece before prosecutors could take him to trial, according to CBS4 News partner The Miami Herald.
The Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office says Kollias was deported on November 29th by immigration officials.
The discovery that he had been deported was disappointing to prosecutors who hoped to put Kollias in jail or prison for the killing that drew widespread attention from animal-rights activists and cat lovers.
Kollias was charged with animal cruelty and tampering with evidence in July, three months after the popular stray cat, was shot in the skull with a crossbow arrow. Hotel surveillance video shows Kollias hunting Strushie and trying to conceal the crossbow. Police also said Kollias tried to erase the video but forensic teams were able to retrieve it.
Strushie was well-known around the Franklin Hotel where Kollias worked. The cat was born in the alley, and fed by the previous hotel owner.
Kollias never posted bail. ICE officers picked him up at Miami's Turner Guilford Knight Correction Center less than two weeks after he was arrested in July and moved to a federal detention center before he was put on a plane for Greece.
The Herald states a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement statement did not address the pending criminal case.