Eric Morrison, 34, was arrested Feb. 23, thirteen days after the incident. Photos c/o Jen Floyd.
A 34-year-old UWS man was arrested late last month after kicking a tiny chihuahua near the intersection of West End Avenue and W. 70th Street. Eric Morrison, the alleged attacker, is due in court on the matter March 12, according to a report by the NY Post.
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The Saturday afternoon, Feb. 10 incident unfolded when 40-year-old Jen Floyd, also an Upper West Sider, was walking down the sidewalk with her leashed three-year-old rescue pup Knox. She claimed in a police complaint she filed two days later that Morrison kicked Knox, causing Floyd to “become seriously alarmed.”
Floyd tells ILTUWS the confrontation began when Morrison rushed past her while he was on his phone and, in doing so, nearly stepped on Knox. She admonished him, she said, calling out to him to be more careful.
“This guy’s on his phone, he wasn’t looking where he was going. He looked distraught. I said, ‘Hey watch out, you’re about to step on my dog.’”
Morrison turned around, looked at her squarely in the face, she said, and then aggressively kicked the five-pound Knox, who started crying and screaming. Shocked, Floyd then immediately kicked Morrison in retaliation, she said. Morrison then walked away.
Knox. Photo c/o Jen Floyd.
“I reflexively kicked him,” she admitted.
Floyd said she ran after him, putting her phone on video to help identify him later. She caught up and yelled at him for kicking Knox.
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“I was screaming ‘what the hell?’ He kept saying his mom was sick and he had to get her medicine,” she said. “I said that didn’t give him the right to assault a dog.”
Floyd then immediately called 911 and police officers responded, looked for the then-unidentified man with no luck, she said. She then went to the police station to file a report but was discouraged from doing so by an officer at the desk. “I was told there’s nothing they can do.”
She shared a video of their confrontation on Instagram and, like moths to the light, incensed readers began expressing outrage at the alleged attack, with some trying to identify the man. It didn’t take long before he had a name: Google employee Eric Morrison. Floyd said the armchair sleuths used facial-recognition software called PimEyes to uncover his identity.
“The internet ID’d him because of my video,” she said.
In the video, Floyd can be heard saying “You came up out of nowhere and I said ‘watch my dog,’ and you kicked him as hard as you could because you were having a bad day. I just want the internet to know that. This guy is a piece of sh*t.”
Meanwhile, Morrison became aware of the now-viral video and on the day after the incident, went to the police station himself to file a complaint with the NYPD, claiming it was Floyd who attacked him. He claimed in the written report that she accused him of almost stepping on her dog and then began attacking him by punching and kicking him and pushing him into scaffolding, causing him to suffer minor injuries. He also claimed in the report that because of the viral video, he “feared for his safety.”
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Floyd went back to the station on Monday, two days after the confrontation, to make another attempt at filing a complaint. This one was successful, and the matter was turned over to the NYPD’s Animal Cruelty Squad.
Fortunately for Floyd, a camera on a building across the street from the ruckus caught some of the incident on tape, and that video appears to corroborate her allegation that Morrison kicked Knox. Police obtained the video Feb. 12.
Morrison, who lives on Riverside Drive, was charged with “violation (of) agricultural market law,” according to the NYPD. According to the NY Post and social media, Morrison works for Google and formerly worked for TikTok.
Floyd said it was luck that the second video was found. She was in a nearby CVS, she said, asking if the store had a security camera that might have caught the incident. It did not. But two police officers happened to be in the store and overheard her question to a store employee. They then went outside with her and began looking for video cameras which could have obtained the footage she was looking for. That’s when they found one on a residential building across the street.
“I post the original video footage I took calling him out on Saturday. He presses fake assault charges to cover his ass on Sunday saying I attacked him first… BUT… he didn’t know the building across the street caught it all on video…,” Ms. Floyd later wrote on Instagram.
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After Floyd posted the second video, of the actual incident, viewer condemnation of Morrison was renewed.
“I cringed watching this!! I’m so happy he was caught on video and that he was finally help (sic) accountable !!!” wrote one Instagram reader. “The good news is that whenever anyone Googles his name in the future, this will come up,” wrote another.
Some even called for Google to fire Morrison.
Floyd tells ILTUWS that Knox is still skittish when outside, but does not appear to have been badly injured physically.
“I think we are both on edge a little bit,” she said. “I loved living in a quiet area by the river. I used to feel safe around here. The fact that this happened so close to home makes it worse.”
She mentioned that she often thinks of other victims who were not as fortunate as her to have video evidence of their experiences.
“It makes me feel bad for other victims who don’t have proof,” she said.
Floyd holds a master’s degree in Animal Behavior and Conservation, a field she used to work in. She is now a jewelry designer.
Really? New heights in journalism? This is all hearsay, but ILTUW doesn’t hesitate in taking a side and then vilifying this person. The real culprit here is the dog’s owner who chose have a tiny dog off-lead in a busy, hazardous environment. Who does that?!
1. The article clearly states the dog was leashed. 2. The videos corroborate her account. 3. The evidence including videos was enough for charges to be filed against the kicker.
Hilarious how you attempt to mischaracterize an article you clearly didn’t read. This man was arrested, based on evidence. He is deranged if he needs to kick a tiny dog. WHICH WAS ON A LEASH. The only one off their lead is you.
my MAN did you see the video? you’re insane
Sounds like Theo is the Google employee. The dog was on a leash!
How embarrassing for you, Theo. Not too sharp, are you?
Hearsay? It’s on video.
“walking down the sidewalk with her leashed three-year-old rescue pup Knox.”
Maybe you should worry less about defending animal abuse and more on your basic reading skills.
The person who kicked the dog is clearly in the wrong; however, so is the dog owner for instigating a dangerous situation. Based on the evidence the dog owner yelled at this guy after he was acting haphazardly. She engaged in the conflict, escalating it at times by kicking him back, swearing at him, filming him, etc. These are BOTH horrible people. Or at least, just human and flawed.
“Instigating” a dangerous situation? She yelled at a guy for being such a self-absorbed, clueless jerk that he’s running into people while yammering on his phone.
He instigated the entire situation himself by being such a {words I probably can’t say in this message section}.
oh look this must be the dog kicker, lmao “theo,” we all know who you are, dog kicker.
How many times do we have to endure the police saying “there’s nothing we can do” and refusing to take a report.
This says the dog was leashed.
“walking down the sidewalk with her leashed three-year-old rescue pup Knox.”
Dog lover here. Horrible that this guy kicked poor Knox. That said, it seems wrong to publicize this incident and ruin the guy’s life. Everyone has stressful times, rough days when they are not their best selves. Would you want your mistakes to be the first thing people see when they google you? Everyone please take a deep breath. Let the dude apologize, take an anger-management class, and move on.
This dog lover agrees with you 100%!
I have had bad days, I’ve had bad moods and been stressed out. Never once did I think “I’ll vent by kicking a dog.” Anyone who does that needs to be locked up because they’re a danger to society.
If he’d do this on a busy city street, I can only imagine what he’s doing behind closed doors.
So maybe next, when he’s having a bad day, n
He’ll kick a child too. No apologies for this creep
Nope, he deserves it. If he got away with this he would escalate. They always do. Don’t do dumb things in public if you wish to stay a part of society. This is how we roll now. That’s exactly WHY the cameras are everywhere, we don’t want these people out and in public all anonymous. That’s how things go seriously wrong.
People are being assaulted on a daily basis in our neighborhood and the perps flee with no consequence yet some Karen goes on a crusade and this poor guy has a court date?! I thought I had seen it all…
That’s some take. You seem like a great guy.
to that
So she’s a “Karen” (a racist reductive gender offensive pejorative) because while out on a daily walk with her dog someone maliciously attacks her dog and then adds insult to injury by lacking any remorse for their actions by rationalizing their behavior – it’s a kick your dog kinda day.
Congrats-this is the gaslighting tactic used classically against women to blame them for the abuse they suffer from.
Dude did something pretty stupid-apologize and move on. Then this would have been a moment two neighbors might have had compassion for each other for rather than the social media 15 minutes of fame.
Andy Warhol could not have been more right!
He committed a crime. Fine. Punish him for the crime.
But it shouldn’t be a life sentence because someone doxxed him revealing his employer.
I’m reading the guy kicked a dog and the woman kicked a person. The dog kicker was charged. I think both of them should have been charged, and frankly, this city has lost it’s mind selectively prosecuting assualt based on gender.
Dogs are dogs. From time to time, they require a good kick, a swat, a rolled up newspaper. A stern shouted warning. There are far too many folks with dogs who treat them as their surrogate children- how sick is that? You see a tiny shivering Mexican hairless and pity it like a human baby?
I hate abusive people- both humans involved are equally at fault for upsetting poor little Poo Poo.
What bot-hole did you crawl out of? Discipline is applied when/if needed – not just cause you’re having a tough day and usually it does not reap the intended purpose. Fear is usually not a good learning tool.
But we know that’s not your intent with this post-it’s to humiliate and belittle people who’ve poured their love and emotions into their pet surrogates. What a shame that families and friends have shunned so many that animals have filled this void in people’s’ lives.
Luckily they have you to remind them of the foolishness of their ways – how dare they a pet love too much.
Perhaps pets make bitter sad people a little bit happier? Something to reflect on.
Shame on both parties for acting so uncivilized and immature. Vindictive much?
Good for her; abusing animals and children is the lowest of the low.
The final solution is for Ms.Floyd to adopt a wolf. Then let’s watch what happens to Not Theo’s leg.
@Google ought to fire this angry tiny dog kicker.