Man Arrested for Allegedly Leaving Dead Animals at Parkland Memorial
Written by SOURCE on September 3, 2022
A Florida man has been charged for dumping dead animals at a memorial site dedicated to Parkland shooting victims.
According to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, 29-year-old Robert Mondragon is facing two counts of removing or disfiguring a tomb or monument, five counts of violation of probation for battery and indecent exposure, as well as a single count of violation of a risk protection order.
Investigators say the suspect began leaving animal carcasses at the monument on July 20—two days after the Parkland shooter sentencing trial began. A school crossing guard reportedly found a cut open duck on a bench at the MSD Memorial Garden, located outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The guard would go on to discover a dead raccoon and opossum at the same bench on July 21 and 31, respectively.
Investigators say they reviewed surveillance video that showed a white Nissan arriving at the garden shortly after 11 p.m. on July 30. A man was seen exiting the vehicle and walking into the garden for several minutes before returning to the vehicle and driving away.
On July 31, a deputy stopped a white Nissan with illegally tinted windows and noticed bird feathers and blood splattered across the car’s floorboard. The driver, who was identified as Mondragon, told the officer he was driving with a dead bird because he enjoyed “the metal and blood smell” the emitted from the carcass.
Authorities began investigating Mondragon and found photos of dead animals on his phone as well as multiple internet searches about real and fictional school shootings. They also pointed out that Mondragon had face tattoos that resembled those of Tate Langdon, an American Horror Story character who carries out a school shooting.
Per the BCSO:
[Detectives] said they also found text messages about school shootings and internet searches about school shooters, how to break into steel doors, shootings involving multiple victims, pipe bombs, as well as slang terms for killing cops. Further concerning evidence revealed that two weeks before the end of the 2021/2022 school year, Mondragon walked the path the MSD school shooter took from the high school to Walmart on Feb. 14, 2018.Further concerning evidence revealed that two weeks before the end of the 2021/2022 school year, Mondragon walked the path the MSD school shooter took from the high school to Walmart on Feb. 14, 2018.
Mondragon was taken into custody on Aug. 4 and is being held without bond. At the time of his arrest, Mondragon was on probation for battery and indecent exposure convictions.
