JEFFERSON COUNTY — A man accused of killing his girlfriend’s small dog with a bow and arrows pleaded not guilty Monday in a Jefferson County courtroom. Zackary Scott Ruszka, 20, who faces an aggravated animal cruelty charge, is scheduled for trial July 7, said Pam Russell, spokeswoman with the Jefferson County district attorney’s office.
In December, Arvada police were called to a home in the 6900 block of Otis Street on reports that the house had been ransacked and a dog killed.
The man making the report, according to court records, was Alex Duran, 21. Duran lived at the home with Ruszka; Ruszka’s girlfriend, Regina Libeu; and Libeu’s parents, Jeanette and Dave Pranzo.
The Pranzos and their daughter had gone to California on a family emergency, leaving the home in the care of Ruszka and Duran.
