Members of the community protested because they say the cat wasn’t sick or injured, he just slipped out of the house and when a neighbor called police to help get the cat to his rightful owner, they said the officer shot him. “Justice for Sugar” is the name of this Facebook page and what a packed house at the North Catasaqua council meeting is demanding, after they say Tom Newhart’s cat was shot and killed by a police officer in the borough. Protesters stood outside holding signs, while others inside voiced their opinions at the borough’s council meeting Monday night. They are urging officials to fire officer Leighton Pursell and they want the chief of North Catasauqua’s Police Department to step down. District Attorney John Morganelli has opened an investigation.

Open an investigation is exactly what he did. Putting off the public and the family till today. Strangely a mere week after he was up for election for attorney general of Pennsylvania (he did not get elected, thankfully). Despite an incredible outcry from the public and even more than double the number of signatures needed to get an official response (100,000 needed, they got 244,000) .

Well finally today it was announced that no charges will be filed against the trigger-happy Hero. Instead, the Hero will receive a citation equivalent to a jaywalking ticket. He will not lose his job or even face probation for opening fire on a defenseless cat in neighborhood, a few feet from houses. The Official Justice For Sugar page has made a full statement. Here is a quote from the full response:

First, the stories of those involved changed significantly after the investigation started and the case gained a lot of attention. When the neighbor who called the police initially spoke with Mr. Newhart and the local news, he stated that Sugar did not appear injured. He said Sugar never made any aggressive movements towards anybody. He never said that he saw a blood trail, or that Sugar was unable to walk, or that she appeared to be in pain, as he later told the investigator and as DA Morganelli said at the press conference. His account of the incident was drastically different when he later spoke with police. One has to wonder why it changed so much, and why it changed to be so similar to Officer Pursell’s version, and what the real story is. It should also be noted that, despite mentioning injuries on more than one occasion, DA Morganelli again admitted that the veterinary examination did not find any significant injuries to Sugar, other than a gunshot wound.