Dispute over cat leads to fight at apartment, burglary charges in Oxford

In the course of the fight, pepper spray had been used on one of the five people involved in the situation.

After a confusing round of explanations, a 45-year-old male and a 26-year-old female were charged with aggravated burglary for removing the cat in question from an apartment in the complex. The two were found by police with another woman in the third-floor hallway. They had the cat in a cat carrier and the officer questioned a female resident of the apartment who said she been out and returned to find the pair in the hallway with the cat in the carrier.

She said they had all lived together in a home on Miami Western Drive previously and the suspects had moved away but returned. She said they had been trying for several months to take the cat from her but said the cat had been hers since it was a kitten. She said she made a lunge for the cat carrier when she returned home to find them with the cat, and she said they had assaulted her.

She said a fight ensued and was broken up when a neighbor came out of her apartment and used the pepper spray on her.

The female suspect told the officer the other woman on the scene had texted her to say the woman with the cat had left and she and the male suspect came to retrieve the cat. She said she entered the apartment through an unlocked door and saw the cat which she claimed was hers. Sullivan said he had been carrying the cat carrier and stepped inside while they gathered the cat into the carrier.

The female suspect said the other woman lunged for the cat carrier and began to fight them. Both were advised of their rights and the male suspect said he wanted an attorney present. He was removed from the scene but the female suspect continued with the story.

She said the cat had been stolen from her and the male suspect last December and they had filed multiple complaints with the Oxford Twp. Police Department claiming multiple burglaries and stealing the cat.

The officer advised her those charges would have to be dealt with by the Oxford Twp. department and the ownership of the cat is a civil matter.

The suspects were taken to the Oxford Police Department and charged before being transported to the Butler County Jail.