Dream hotel founder and Manhattan sociallite Vikram Chatwal has been charged with animal cruelty and other counts for an incident that occurred last week. Apparently, he went on a rampage in front of his apartment building and lit two dogs on fire!
According to Assistant District Attorney Erin Satterwhite, “This case involved the defendant (Chattel) running out on the street … screaming, ‘The dogs must die!’ and [lighting] the dog on fire. The witness said the defendant lit one of the dogs on fire … He is also on video holding a can and lighter. The dogs did have to be treated by the ASPCA.” You can see the TMZ video here.
Thankfully, the dogs are okay. And coincidentally, they belong to British art gallery owner Sean Kelly who was happy to hear that Vikram was arrested. “I think it’s great that he’s been apprehended and charged. He’s clearly an extremely disturbed person,” Sean told The Post.
His defense is claiming that Chatwal is bi-polar and is taking anti-depressants which may change they way he behaves. And The Post reports that the defendant turned himself into the Fifth Precinct yesterday morning at 7AM, with a “strong odor of alcohol on his breath,” according to the prosecutors.
His afternoon arraignment brought a felony charge of criminal mischief and misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty, reckless endangerment and arson to him. He is out on $50,000 bond and his next court appearance is set for December 8th. What do you think about this case? Comment below!
