(Newser) – A Michigan teenager faces up to 4 years in prison after witnesses said he deliberately ran down a family of ducklings with his Hummer, killing four of them. The massacre occurred outside an Ann Arbor McDonald's after workers told one of Dillon Pearce's passengers to stop trying to pick up a duckling, living with his mom under bush in the parking lot. After ordering food, Pearce, a wanna-be professional hockey player, appeared to deliberately run over the duck family on the way out.

His lawyer claims he actually intended to save the ducks from the dangerous conditions in the parking lot. “The notion that this was an intentional act is ridiculous," said his attorney. "My client’s a normal guy from a good family. He cares about animals.” Pearce has been charged with one count of felony animal cruelty, reports the Detroit Free Press. He told police he had no idea he had hit the family of ducks. (Read more ducklings stories.)

