Wampsville — The Fenner man charged with shooting a kitten earlier this week has received a second felony charge from state police — this one while he was in custody in the Madison County Jail.
Michael W. Vreeland, 22, of Mutton Hill Road in Fenner, was arrested on Feb. 18 and charged with criminal contempt in the first degree for using the jail telephone to call a person who has a order of protection filed against him — a class E felony.
“Last evening [Thursday, Feb. 18], Vreeland kept calling his mother from the jailhouse phone, even though he knew he wasn’t supposed to,” said State Police Public Information Officer Jack Keller.
Vreeland was originally arrested on Feb. 16 and charged with aggravated cruelty to animals, also a class E felony, for allegedly shooting his mother’s kitten behind their house with a .22 rifle. According to police, Vreeland shot the kitten six times, and told police he did it because the cat was having seizures and he was putting it out of its misery.
Vreeland’s mother is the person who found the dead cat in the yard, called the state police to report it and signed the complaint against her son. As a result, a “stay away” order was filed against Vreeland on behalf of his mother and all other of his relatives who live in the house, Keller said. By continuously calling her from the jail he violated that order.
Vreeland was taken from the Madison County Jail, where he was remanded for the Feb. 16 charge, and arraigned in the City of Oneida Court on the criminal contempt charge. He was then remanded back to county jail on $10,000 cash/$20,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear back in Oneida court at 9 a.m. March 19.
Vreeland was originally arrested and arraigned on the Feb. 16 charge in the Town of Eaton Court and remanded to the Madison County Jail on $500 cash/$1000 bond. He is scheduled to appear back in the Town of Fenner Court at 2:30 p.m. on March 7.
If convicted of the two felony charges, Vreeland faces at least one year in jail for each charge, and a $1,000 fine for each charge.
