A Reno man accused of carrying out a horrific attack on a kitten inside a San Francisco bank ATM vestibule has been charged with animal cruelty, prosecutors announced Friday.
William Ohlson, 33, faces charges of killing, maiming or abusing an animal, overdriving, overworking or overloading an animal, and resisting, obstructing or delaying a peace officer, according to the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office.
Ohlson is set to appear in court Monday at 1:30 p.m. at the Hall of Justice.
Critics argue that a California Supreme Court ruling limiting pretrial detention to human-directed violence is what led to the immediate release of the suspect accused of severe animal torture, highlighting what some call a “soft-on-crime” system.
This state framework contrasts with federal law, specifically the 2019 PACT Act signed by President Donald Trump, which elevated severe animal abuse to a federal felony.
Because of the state limits on pretrial detention, significant prison time for Ohlson now depends entirely on local prosecutors securing a future felony conviction at trial.
Authorities allege Ohlson entered a bank ATM vestibule on the 1800 block of Market Street around 2 a.m. on July 1 while carrying a small kitten and then violently tortured the animal to death before leaving the scene with the kitten.
The alleged killing sparked an investigation by San Francisco Animal Care and Control and the San Francisco Police Department, which later tracked Ohlson to a hotel on the 100 block of Fell Street.
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When officers served a search warrant on July 14, police said a Real Time Investigations Center Drone as First Responder operator spotted Ohlson fleeing from his room onto the roof of an adjacent building.
The suspect was eventually taken into custody after a rooftop standoff that brought in the San Francisco Fire Department, whose crews used a ladder truck to assist officers in safely reaching the roof.
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Ohlson was booked into San Francisco County Jail No. 1 on animal abuse and resisting arrest charges, but he was released shortly afterward due to the state’s pretrial detention laws.
The investigation remains active.
