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FOX40 News published July 8, 2026: 'I hid in my car and I waited': Animal control officer recounts capturing alleged cat-killer.
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Fox40 News, Sacramento, CA local
written by Sierra Krug
Wednesday July 8, 2026
SACRAMENTO — A Sacramento County Animal Control officer who played a key role in catching the man accused of brutally beating a neighborhood-stray cat to death in April shared her story with FOX40.
Zoe McCurnin said she has worked her whole life to be able to help give animals a voice. While she says this specific incident was horrific, she’s relieved she was able to play a role in holding the cat’s alleged killer accountable.
“It’s a living thing that not only just lost its life, but it lost its life horrifically,” McCurnin said.
FOX40 crews gathered exclusive footage of Adrian Cruz leaving Sacramento Superior Court last week.
“No comment,” he answered when asked if he had anything to say regarding his charges.
The 30-year-old man is accused of beating an old, nearly blind and deaf neighborhood cat to death.
“I really wanted to make sure that we found him and held him accountable for doing this to an animal, because people don’t take it as seriously as when humans get hurt,” McCurnin said.
She said this all began with a call from a resident back in April. A woman’s doorbell video captured a man, now believed to be Cruz, heading to a home along Sun Florin Drive by e-scooter, then killing one of several stray cats that gather daily to be fed by neighbors.
As an animal advocate, McCurnin said the footage was horrifying.
“But it also gave me some hope because in my head I was like, we can actually find this guy,” McCurnin said.
She said a week later she received another report from the initial caller. The suspect had returned around the same time and day of the week as his last appearance. This time by car.
“He walked up, tried to grab one of the cats,” McCurnin recalled from the second round of security footage. “Immediately it ran away and he went back to his car.”
With a pattern now established, McCurnin said she dedicated the next few weeks to staking out — determined to catch the man before he could hurt another cat. Sure enough, one morning, while hiding in her personal car, she saw the man return a third time. She immediately alerted Sacramento County sheriff’s deputies.
“We went to his house [with] the search warrant and that was where they found everything he was wearing in the video — the gloves he had on that had cat fur all over them, everything to indicate that this was the correct suspect,” McCurnin said.
She said it has always been her mission to give animals across the community a voice. Now she explained how she hopes to bring justice for the elderly cat that lost its life.
“I just felt like the situation was so horrific,” McCurnin said. “It doesn’t matter if this was just a stray cat and the lady didn’t technically own the cat, it’s still a life that he took away and it could result in even more horrific things that this person’s possibly doing later on.”
Cruz’s last court appearance was postponed. He is expected back in court in August.
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