A 3-month-old kitten named Olive is recovering after Fontana police said a Fontana man stuck the kitten in the freezer, then squeezed it, and finally threw the tiny animal from a second-story balcony Tuesday morning all because the small cat entered the man’s apartment.

Lucio Lopez, 34, left the apartment in the 9200 block of Olive Street before police arrived, but a search of the area led to his arrest in the 8900 block of Oleander Avenue in Fontana about an hour after the 2:45 a.m. call reporting that Lopez was attacking the kitten, according to a Fontana police news release and booking logs.

Fontana police say that Olive the kitten was stuffed into a freezer, then squeezed and then thrown off a second-story balcony in the 9200 block of Olive Street on Tuesday morning, Feb. 6, 2018. The man accused in the attack, Lucio Lopez, 34, was arrested in the 8900 block of Oleander Avenue just before 3:30 a.m. Tuesday. Courtesy of Fontana Police Department

Lucio Lopez, 34, in the 8900 block of Oleander Avenue just before 3:30 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018, on suspicion of animal cruelty in an attack on a kitten at an apartment complex in the 9200 block of Olive Street. Courtesy of Fontana Police Department

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Fontana police say that Olive the kitten was stuffed into a freezer, then squeezed and then thrown off a second-story balcony in the 9200 block of Olive Street on Tuesday morning, Feb. 6, 2018. The man accused in the attack, Lucio Lopez, 34, was arrested in the 8900 block of Oleander Avenue just before 3:30 a.m. Tuesday. Courtesy of Fontana Police Department



Witnesses told officers Lopez was upset the kitten had gotten into the apartment and first placed the small cat into the freezer, officials said. It wasn’t clear how long the cat was in the freezer, but when Lopez took the kitten out, authorities say he began squeezing the animal’s body until the “frightened kitten cried out in pain.”

Lopez then threw the kitten off the balcony and it struck the concrete floor, “resulting in major injuries to its chest and a fractured leg,” the statement said.

Lopez was arrested on suspicion of animal cruelty and an outstanding warrant and was booked into West Valley Detention Center.

Fontana Animal Services took the kitten to the veterinarian for emergency treatment. The kitten, which the staff named Olive, will need surgery “and much needed love,” officials said.