Puppy killed when used as weapon by Timothy V. Tucker in beating of his wildebeest girlfriend in Kalamazoo

KALAMAZOO, MI – In November, Timothy Tucker punched his girlfriend in the face and then pummeled her with the couple's two-week-old puppy to the point that the small animal defecated on the woman and died.

"I've been doing this ... for 25 years," Kalamazoo County Assistant Prosecutor Mike Reisterer said Tuesday as Tucker, 51, appeared in circuit court for sentencing in the November assault.

"This is one of the few cases that turns my stomach. To take a two-week-old puppy and bludgeon his significant other to the point that she requires hospitalization and the puppy is dead ... is incomprehensible."

Tucker, who has a lengthy criminal record, pleaded guilty in December to one count of third-offense domestic violence as a second-time habitual offender. As part of a plea agreement in the case, one count of killing/torturing animals was dismissed and Tucker was able to avoid being convicted as a fourth-time habitual offender.

A Cobbs agreement between Tucker and the court called for no prison time for Tucker and entry into the Swift and Sure Sanctions Program. A Cobbs plea allows for defendants to enter a guilty plea in a case that can later be withdrawn if a judge's sentence falls outside the terms put forth by the judge before a defendant entered their plea.

Reisterer argued Tuesday for Tucker to be sent to prison. According to court documents, Tucker has prior convictions for third-offense domestic violence in 2005, fleeing police in 2006 and writing counterfeit checks in 2008.

Circuit Judge Alexander C. Lipsey also noted during Tuesday's sentencing that Tucker was previously convicted of second-offense domestic violence in 1999, 2001 and 2013 and illegal entry and malicious destruction of property in 2010.

Lipsey on Tuesday stuck to the terms of the Cobbs agreement and sentenced Tucker to six months in jail with credit for 68 days already served, as well as four years of probation and entry into the Swift and Sure Sanctions Program. He ordered Tucker to pay state fees and restitution and told Tucker that failure to successfully complete Swift and Sure could result in prison time.

"The court looked fairly extensively at the history in this particular matter and it does appear the defendant has potential anger issues," Lipsey said. "There is a point at which the system can help but help is the operative word. The initiative has to come from the defendant, he has to be able to figure out if he's willing to accept help and act on it."

Tucker, according to court documents, punched his girlfriend in November, leaving her with a "severely swollen eye." He then took the puppy and repeatedly struck the woman with the animal.

After the assault, fecal matter from the puppy was found on the woman, according to court documents.

In court Tuesday, the woman told Lipsey that Tucker's actions "put me in a real dark place" and that she was not able to see for weeks because of her injuries. She also said that she's struggled with depression since the assault.

"I was hurt, scared in my own house, being attacked in my own house," the woman said. "I'm still scared and I shouldn't have to feel like that from someone I cared about, someone I loved.

"... He's going to find the wrong broken person and either they're going to kill him or he's going to kill them."

Tucker said little in court Tuesday other than to say that he wanted his property back from his former girlfriend and would give her property that's in his possession back to the woman at that point.

Tucker's attorney, Robert Champion, asked Lipsey to sentence Tucker to time already served and order him to enter the Swift and Sure program.