A judge set bail at $7,500 Monday for a woman accused of snatching a duck from a fountain at The Venetian and abusing it.
Destiny Reyes, 29, faces a felony animal cruelty charge after casino security called police, reporting that she had jumped into a fountain last Tuesday afternoon and grabbed Daffy, a female duckling.
Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Diana Sullivan said that given a substantial amount of surveillance footage, it was likely prosecutors could prove their case.
She also said she was concerned about Reyes’ stability and the likelihood the defendant would come back to court. In addition to the bail amount, Sullivan ordered that Reyes will be subject to high-level electronic monitoring if released and cannot possess animals. She will be ordered out of the Strip.
“The state is concerned for, frankly, any animal or human in this community because again, what would possess someone to do this is beyond me,” said Deputy District Attorney Haley Willming. “I absolutely have no idea why she thought this was a good idea.”
Sullivan noted that Reyes was previously accused of pistol whipping someone on Fremont Street. In that incident, the judge said it appeared that Reyes ran from police.
The prior case led to a conviction for attempted battery with substantial bodily harm.
Willming asked for $40,000 bail.
She said video showed how Reyes “snatched a baby duckling from the Venetian pond and then proceeds to jostle it around violently for a period of time,” tossing it back and forth and at one point, dropping it on the pavement.
Its neck “is snapping back and forth” in the video, said the prosecutor, and Reyes also stretched the bird’s wings, injuring one of them.
Reyes shook her head and said, “Mmm, mmm” in apparent disagreement as Willming spoke. Eventually, the defendant began to cry.
Willming said Reyes also screamed and cursed at the officers who arrested her, telling them they should call her father, who works in law enforcement.
Deputy Public Defender Shaelyn Dieter avoided addressing the allegations of duck-napping in her argument.
She said her client has no history of failing to appear in court and is a longtime Las Vegas resident. She has been “couch sufring” but also living with her parents, the public defender said.
Dieter said Reyes was not working, but was applying for jobs.
Her case is one of several recently in which defendants have been accused of abusing animals at casinos.
A Canadian man, Mitchell Fairbarn, faces animal cruelty charges after police said he stole a flamingo at the Flamingo resort and abused it.
In a separate case, prosecutors are seeking to charge as an adult a teen who is accused of stabbing horses at the South Point during a barrel racing event.
Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com.
