A Florida dog owner allegedly faked a heart attack while being arrested after her two pets viciously mauled a woman to death, according to cops.
Linda Cutler, 29, “feigned having a heart attack” while she was being hauled into custody by cops Wednesday, Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey told reporters.
Cutler, who has since been charged with manslaughter, was nabbed near the Hilton hotel in Melbourne, which is located on Florida’s “Space Coast” — a week after her two mixed-breed dogs savaged 50-year-old dog-walker Jodi Cowan in Cocoa.
Cutler’s pooches Max and Mako climbed over the fence just before 2 a.m. May 19 before “forcing her [Cowan] to the ground, viciously attacking her and eventually dragging her across the ground for quite some distance,” Ivey said.
Cowan’s husband, Donnell Smith, swung a knife at the two dogs in a desperate bid to shoo them away.
Moments after the attack, she called 911 and said, “I’m dying, can’t breathe,” according to audio obtained by Florida Today.
“It was brutal. Seeing the same woman I’ve loved for the last 25, 30 years just ripped apart by two animals was just … I’ll never get that image out of my mind,” Smith told WESH, describing the horror.
Cowan died from her injuries hours later, but Cutler wasn’t immediately arrested; she was only nabbed when cops responded to an unrelated disturbance at the beachside location.
“Hope you enjoyed your time at the beach because you’re not going to be going back,” Ivey said as cops escorted her to jail.
“What is the purpose of that?” a seemingly clueless Cutler, who faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted, responded.
“A woman is dead and two dogs are about to be euthanized because of your uselessness,” the sheriff replied.
Cutler didn’t strengthen her fence despite knowing her dogs had previously escaped, according to the authorities.
And one of Cutler’s neighbors had previously been bitten by her other dogs — but they didn’t cooperate with cops, WFLA reported
“They were always on the loose,” neighbor Dominica Midkiff told Florida Today.
The authorities couldn’t seize the animals because the incidents failed to meet the legal requirement.
The two dogs will be euthanized.
Cutler’s arraignment is scheduled for June 23.
