Drunken man arrested after allegedly punching police horse in downtown Austin, police say

Eloy Villanueva, 42, currently faces a charge of interference with a police animal in connection with the incident. He remains in the Travis County Jail on a $7,500 bond. Eloy Villanueva, 42, currently faces a charge of interference with a police animal in connection with the incident. He remains in the Travis County Jail on a $7,500 bond. Photo: Travis County Jail Photo: Travis County Jail Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Drunken man arrested after allegedly punching police horse in downtown Austin, police say 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

An Austin man was arrested Friday after he allegedly punched a police horse named "Moonshine" in the nose while intoxicated in the city's downtown area, according to court documents.

Eloy Villanueva, 42, currently faces a state jail felony charge of interference with a police animal and a Class C misdemeanor charge of public information in connection with the incident. He remains in the Travis County Jail on a $7,500 bond.

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Two police officers mounted on police horses approached Villanueva around 10 p.m. Friday at East 5th Street and Red River Street when they noticed he was walking unsteadily and wanted to "check on his welfare due to the obvious impairment observed from a distance," according to his arrest affidavit.

Villanueva spoke with the officers briefly, then fell over and didn't get back up.

The police called emergency responders to the location to evaluate Villanueva, but after a few minutes he got back up and began to pet one of the officer's horses, which is named "Moonshine."

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Then, "all of a sudden," Villanueva punched "Moonshine" in the nose, causing the horse to buck his head back and become startled. Police say that based on how hard Villanueva hit the horse, he could've injured it, the affidavit said.

"The tissue in the area of the nose of the horse is soft and could be bruised or nerve endings in the nose could have been damaged due to the force of the strike," according to the affidavit.

The officers arrested Villanueva and booked him into jail.

If convicted, he faces up to two years in prison for the felony charge.

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